Hamlet:

Psychological Analysis Essay

As your final assessment for our study of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, you will be composing an on-demand evidence-based analysis essay of the character of your choice.

PROMPT: Using multiple examples from the text and information about psychological conditions, write an analysis of a character from Hamlet. Analyze the effect that understanding this character through a psychological lens has upon the reader and/or the communication of a major idea in the novel.

GOALS:

·  To demonstrate comprehension of Hamlet through critical thinking and reasoned argument.

·  To demonstrate awareness of using a psychological approach to understanding literature.

·  To compose an evidence-based proposition-proof argument which draws a conclusion about characterization within a text, and then defends this conclusion.

AUDIENCE: Your reader has read the entirety of Hamlet, though you still must establish you own ethos through an effective introductory synopsis and adequate context within body paragraphs.

FORM:

·  The essay you compose must include an introduction, thesis, body paragraphs, and a conclusions paragraph.

·  This essay must deal respectfully with medical terminology and diagnoses.

·  This essay must specific connect material from the text to the chosen area of psychology.

·  The essay must follow MLA formatting and citation guidelines—since you are using only one text as a source, you only need to cite page numbers in parenthetical citation.

·  The essay must present an academic voice, avoid first-person voice, and use limited-second person inclusive (use of we, us, and our is permissible in the conclusions paragraph).

·  There is no length minimum or maximum for this essay; however, you must write enough to convincingly communicate your interpretation of the prompt.

TIMELINE:

·  Friday, December 9th: Receive the prompt; Begin thinking, planning, gathering, outlining.

·  December 12 - 13: Work time for drafting body paragraphs.

·  December 14th: Work time for drafting the introduction and conclusions.

·  December 15th : Peer/personal revision and editing.

·  December 16th: Work time for essay revision and editing of conventions.

The essay is due by MIDNIGHT on Friday, December 16th

**You will not be receiving formative feedback on this essay. The draft you submit on Friday the 16th is your “final draft” that will receive a quality grade based upon the six-trait writing scoring rubric (see the back for the rubric).