Topic Six (1.6): Reading the Play – Act V
Introduction
In this topic, you will complete your reading of Hamlet. You will focus on Act V, the final act of the play, making detailed notes and annotations as you go.
Read and Make Notes
Read and make notes on Act V, on pages 439 to 494, using the resources and guidance below.
Tasks
- Deal with one scene at a time.
- For every scene, you should:
- Highlight important quotations as you go along;
- Read the accompanying notes in the text at the same time;
- Use the SparkNotes summary and analysis to consolidate your understanding once you have finished reading:
EXPLORE – Scene by Scene Summary and Analysis (SparkNotes) Links to an external site.
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- Make a very brief summary of the scene, listing key events using simple bullet points. This will be an important ‘map’ of the events of the play to which you can refer later on.
Consolidation
- You should now watch a film version of the play to consolidate what you have read. If you have not yet watched this production of the play, now is the time to do so:
- If you have already seen the version above, you should try another version. See the list of film versions in Topic 1.2 for recommendations.
Terminology
Make sure you understand any new literary terminology covered in this topic. You may like to make flashcards of key terms now, to help you with revision later on.