So, there has not been an awful lot of material, but we did achieve one pretty impressive benchmark, our theme statement for Hamlet, among some others.
Going into our final discussion of Hamlet, I really felt like we could have gone on for ages listing motifs. I honestly do not know how he does it, but Shakespeare includes a patchwork quilt of patterns throughout this play. As we started to zone in towards our theme statement, I actually really liked Holmes' analogy of the sticky strings as the connections across the play with the central conflict. I find it interesting how we never really talked about the indecision in Hamlet until reading the article, which took such a simple characteristic of Hamlet and built a strong, complex theory out of it. As opposed to other issues like love or loyalty, I found this conflict of Hamlet's moral choice to satisfy my quest for the central conflict, just as it did for the class. As we zoned in on this trait, I also found Hamlet's problem much more relatable, and our discussion of the huge role of religion in his life really clarified his perspective for me. Now that we have completed our discussions, I relate Hamlet to the archetypal story of the confused Indian child that I have seen in countless Bollywood movies. It is the kid who has been raised his entire life towards being a doctor or engineer, and nothing else. He wasn't even asked what he wanted to be. Thinking back to Hamlet's identity crisis, I find this to be a strong connection (who knows, it might even be based on Hamlet's conflict) which easily fits into the play. Hamlet doesn't want to be royal just as the kid doesn't want to be a surgeon. Hamlet is stuck between his rage and morals just as the kid is stuck between his/her loyalty to family and their own life desires.
I actually missed the last two days of final exam review, but I really liked this activity because it exemplified the true team spirit of this class. Sure, I have been in lab groups and done peer reviews, but the collaborative exam review was definitely a new experience for me. Prior to this, I guess I held the independent student mindset: I'm self-sufficient. I don't need any help for this exam. But seeing the awesome work done by all of the hours, I have really come to see this class in a new light.
Hi Abhijit,
ReplyDeleteNice job! There's some awesome detail and a few killer connections in here. I gotta say, I'm impressed you were able to respond this thoroughly to such a limited amount of course material. I particularly appreciated the connection you made between Hamlet and common Bollywood film heroes. It's neat that you were able to use your post to introduce a unique aspect of a different culture to your classmates. I wouldn't be surprised if those movies were directly influenced by Shakespeare's work, considering how ubiquitous the Bard is. I do think you could have explored more layers of that internal conflict, though. After all, Hamlet sees an inherent evil in royalty, while I don't think any child abhors a profession in medicine or engineering in quite the same way. But hey, that's too picky of me. Great job!
Eddie
Hi Abhijit,
ReplyDeleteNice post! I loved and totally understood your analogy with Hamlet and Bollywood characters. I think that's the best analogy I've heard, and it allowed me to connect myself to Hamlet in a way I hadn't thought about. Also nice job with making this post seem full with details from class without summarizing. I was having issues trying to make such connections with the little class time we had together, but you put this together perfectly! Nice job with including even the lab time into your life, even though you weren't there for a long time. This is definitely an example I will keep coming back to for my future blogs. Nice job!