Hamlet Act III – Entries 9-12: Choose one of the annotative responses for each of the four scenes in Act III. Write plenty to demonstrate your deep, thoughtful engagement with the text. Don’t skimp or hurry!
Annotative Responses for Literature, specifically Hamlet by Shakespeare
(Just do your best to interpret the meaning of each kind of response. You can repeat a response, just not immediately after or preceding the same response.)
Heuristic response: Restates a snappy portion of the section that makes the reader want to respond. It is best to use the author’s own words. Cite the passage with act, scene, and line numbers which prompts your response. Then respond.
Question response: Turns the main point of the story or information into an organizing question that the selection answers. Write a question that is answered holistically by the selected scene. Then respond.
Critical response: Supports, rejects, or questions the main idea, and tells why. The first sentence of this type of response should restate the author’s position. The next sentence should state your position. Additional sentences should explain how the two differ. Focus the criticism on one of the topics addressed by the writer in the specified chapter, act, or scene.
Moral-ethical response: Requires reference to values and beliefs that guide, or one believes should guide, attitudes and behavior; and hence, both reflects and influences character development and complexity of thinking. What belief system of values guides a specific character? What values guide the community or culture?
Discipline-connective response: This is a conscious search for relevant ideas, facts, and factors that may seldom appear related to a topic because schooling, as opposed to learning, tends to have subject boundaries whereas ideas do not. Make connections between this piece of literature and other ideas, experiences, and works
Reading Awareness: Identifies or comments on a problem one may have had in reading and understanding a specific piece. Think about your thoughts. Write about that in response to the scene.