Describe how Shakespeare manages to give these internal events the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action.

1. INTERNAL EVENTS
In Hamlet, some of the most significant events are mental or psychological: awakenings, discoveries, changes in consciousness, etc.
In a well-organized essay, describe how Shakespeare manages to give these internal events the
sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action.
2. MINOR CHARACTER
In some works of literature, a character who appears briefly, or does not appear at all, is
nevertheless significant. Write an essay in which you explain how such a character functions in
Hamlet. You might choose to discuss how Shakespeare uses the character to affect the action,
theme, or development of other characters.
3. SOCIAL OCCASIONS
Some works of literature often include scenes of weddings, funerals, parties, and other social
occasions. Such scenes may reveal the values of the characters and the society in which they live.
Select such a scene from Hamlet and, in a focused essay, discuss the contribution the scene
makes to the meaning of the play as a whole.
4. CONFLICTING DIRECTIONS
The eighteenth-century British novelist Laurence Sterne wrote, “Nobody, but he who has felt it,
can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of
equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time.” From Hamlet,
choose a character (not necessarily Hamlet) whose mind is pulled in conflicting directions by
two (or more) compelling desires, ambitions, obligations, or influences. Then, in a
well-organized essay, identify each of the conflicting forces and explain how this conflict within
one character illuminates the meaning of the play as a whole.