October 29

So if you missed class for any reason today, here's a summary of what we did:

• Journal (as always), here's a link to today's journal topic. 
• We spent a fair amount of time discussing Act III and various interpretations of the text. The notes that I personally took revolves around the scene with Gertrude talking to Hamlet, and what Polonius' death tells us. This is an example of indirect characterization in a way because it is clear that Hamlet doesn't care about Polonius since he carried on his with his rant with out even thinking about the fact that he just stabbed someone. He didn't even care about the identity too much, be he most likely hoped it was Claudius for sure. Gertrude also has an epiphany of sorts in this scene as well; she is finally able to see herself through Hamlet's eyes and recognize what a terrible person she has been. In my opinion this is important because at the end of the scene Hamlet tells her he knows that his execution is to come, and perhaps Gertrude's revelation will save Hamlet, or she can choose to betray him. These are just the highlights from the conversation my class had, if anyone in a different period had a different take or something to add, feel free to comment. 
• We then transitioned into reading Act IV, which is also homework to finish reading.
• Then finished the period by going from person to person saying a line from "To be or not to be..." so learn it by tomorrow if you haven't.

Our homework for tonight includes:

• Posting to our blog "Thoughts on Hamlet (In Progress)", where we can describe what we have thought about whilst reading. Any ideas or opinions or thoughts! Think about these questions: Explain how your thinking about the play has evolved from the time we began reading to the end of Act III. Has anything changed your mind about the plot or characters since the ghost showed up at midnight? Where do you see things going from here?
• Read Act IV.
• Watch "Filter Bubbles" and comment to this post, answering these questions: a)What new information did you learn from the video? b)How does this information make you think differently about what you see online? c)What questions does this video raise about the Internet in general? and d)How can you improve the effectiveness of your searches? Also post to your blog. 
• Read "The Performative Utterance in Hamlet" and take notes to post to your blog (use same title).