William Shakespeare: Hamlet

the nature (and honesty) of the ghost
the elector's decision to make Claudius king
character analyses of all major characters:
    Example: Polonius-hypocrisy, stupidity, contribution to Hamlet's
    madness and Ophelia's death, relationship to his children
    Example: Claudius-administrative skill, affection for worldly things,
    "love@ of Gertrude, ambition, appearance versus reality
    theories of Hamlet's madness: Polonius, Hamlet, Gertrude, Claudius,
    Rosencranz and Guildenstern.
contrast between Hamlet and Claudius
examples of "spying" in Acts II and III
relationship between players/play-within-play and main plot
Hamlet's relationship with Ophelia: his/her sincerity; her rejection of him;
the consequences of his decision to respond in kind
Claudius at prayer (III, iii): Is he sincere? Why doesn't he pray? Why doesn't Hamlet kill him?
Hamlet's reconciliation with Gertrude: Is it authentic? Does she support him?
Is she an adulterer? An accomplice to murder?
The murder of Polonius: end of inaction; immersion in world's corruption; crime that must be punished
Hamlet's moral evolution: idealist; disenchanted youth; secret conspirator, murderer, agent of God
Ophelia and Laertes as "foils" for Hamlet: responses to grief of loss
Laertes' rebellion (and Hamlet's revenge) as products of Claudius' sin
Hamlet's philosophy of ."special providence" and its implications: stops plotting, returns to faith in God, allows him to act, but also encourages recklessness, endangers others
the role of "Fate" (or coincidence) in Hamlet's revenge (the distinction between "deep plots" and accidents)
the irony of the fact that Claudius will be succeeded by Fortinbras
the "argument" and context of Hamlet's soliloquies:
    a) ATis an unweeded garden" (Claudius' court)
    b) AOh what a Rogue and peasant slave" (with players)
    c) "To be or not to be@ (before meeting Ophelia)
    d) "How all occasions do inform" (viewing Fortinbras)

17th Century Poetry:

the "argument" of each poem
the Acontrolling metaphor," if appropriate
the speaker and context of each poem
important images and idea

John Donne:
"The Flea@; AThe Ecstasy@; AThe Canonization@; AValediction"; AGood Friday, 1613"; Holy Sonnets 10 and 14

Ben Jonson:
the "Celia" Poems

Andrew Marvell:
"To His Coy Mistress"

George Herbert:
AThe Collar"; "Easter Wings"

Richard Lovelace:
ATo Lucasta"

Robert Herrick:
AConstancy@

John Milton: "Lycidas"
the tradition of pastoral elegy and its "code"
the stages in the narrator=s movement toward reconciliation with God and the fact of death: grief; bitterness; resignation; understanding; acceptance; renewal of faith
the religious function of the poem
important characters, images, and ideas