Academic research and a thorough analysis of Shakespeare’s Hamlet

Assignment: The final essay in this course requires academic research and a thorough analysis of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. For this essay, students may develop their own research topic to deepen an understanding of Shakespeare’s play. The following are some ideas to get you started:

Use of deception in Hamlet
Relationships in Hamlet (Between Hamlet and other characters– limit yourself to two or three)
Hamlet and the use of ghosts
Madness and sanity in Hamlet
Use of religion in Hamlet
The role of revenge in Hamlet
Hamlet’s hamartia (a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine)
Exploring the historical context (Elizabethan England)
Anything else – you pick a topic you’re interested in and go with it!
Your exploration of a topic should be supported by outside research and evidence from the primary text. No more than ½ a page may be given to plot summary (imagine that your reader is familiar with the play already), though you need to cite Shakespeare’s work at least six times. You are required to use at least two outside scholarly sources (in addition to the primary text) for this paper. You need to cite these sources a total of six times, combined. Your sources must come from the library resources (books or databases) or other college-level, scholarly works. In general, no websites may be used unless I have approved the source in advance. There are writing tips and information on how to use Chipola’s library databases in the Writing Requirements Modulein Canvas.

Total word minimum: 1000 words

Worth: 100 points and 10% of your final grade

Grading criteria: To receive the full possible points, papers must:

meet the word minimum.
be on topic.
be written thoughtfully and carefully crafted.
be your own original analysis.
provide details examples and references to the primary text(s).
incorporate appropriately cited scholarly research to support your own ideas.

Well-written essays enable a reader to understand the writer’s intended meaning. Effective writing is focused on the topic; has an organizational pattern (“arrangement of argument”) that enables the reader to follow the flow of ideas; contains supporting ideas developed through the use of details, examples, source references, and vivid language; includes a variety of sentence structures; and follows the grammatical conventions of punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and standard American English.

Be sure to cite all outside sources you use (including the textbook) using MLA formatting and including page numbers. Make sure that your work includes BOTH in-text citations and a Works Cited page.