1. The turning point is when Hamlet goes crazy. This is right before the play starts. He becomes obsessed with catching the king being guilty.
2. Exposition: When the guards see the ghost and Horatio comes to talk to them. He tries to talk to the ghost unsuccesfully, but notices that its the king's ghost. He then goes and finds Hamlet thinking the ghost may try to talk to him. Hamlet is moping around because his dad died and his mom married her brother in law. The king tells Hamlet to stay around. The guards then find Hamlet and tell him about the ghost. He finds it and talks to it. The ghost tells him to go kill Claudius because he murdered the king.
Inciting Event: When Hamlet decides to seek revenge for his father by killing the current king. He is mad and decides to pretend to be crazy so people don't suspect that he knows about the murder. Hamlet also makes Horatio swear an oath of secrecy.
Rising action: Hamlet has gone crazy in the eyes of the king and his followers. They worry about him and try to figure out what's wrong. Polonius decides it must be that Hamlet loves his daughter. So he uses her to try and find out. Once Hamlet finds out she is being used to get to him he becomes mad and is driven closer to insanity.
1. The three are sent to England to be killed
2. Polonius is going to spy on them and listen to see if Hamlet confesses his feelings about Ophelia.
3. Hamlet does not think the king is able to pray because of his sins.
4. Hamlet is worried the king will be forgiven of his sin while he is praying so waits for a time when the king is sinning.
1. He tells her to be harsh with Hamlet.
2. He's calling Polonius a little rat who runs around under the radar and spies on people.
3. He is accusing his mother of the murder, which she had no part in.
4. She's worried about Hamlet's behaviour and wants to know why he's acting out against her.
5. His father is like a god. He is fair and noble, a good commander, and a good husband
His uncle is like just the opposite worthless and rotten.
6. Hamlet is trying to say his uncle is not supposed to be a ruler and that he has taken a place not belonging to him.
7. Hamlet is imagining his mother in bed with a man. This is disgusting and is incest.
8. The ghost tells Hamlet to stop because his mother is a good one.

1. The two report that Hamlet seems a less crazy now and perhaps could be made happier if he had Ophelia.
2. The king acts with regret. He has a guilty conscience and is burdened by the weight of the murder on his mind.
3. The three of them decide to give Hamlet his letters back and have Ophelia talk to him to see if he is in love and thats why he is crazy.
4. Hamlet is troubled and is debating whether or not to kill himself. He decides not to but is not entirely sure that is the right choice.
5. He argues that after death may be worse than life. He is scared of hell.
6. Ophelia gives Hamlet his love letters back and this makes him mad because it's a rejection of his love. This drives Hamlet even closer to madness.
7. Hamlet says there is one married who will not live. He is threatening Cladious's life.
8. The king decides to send Hamlet to England to be killed by those people. He is worried Hamlet knows.
9. He feels like he can trust Horatio.
10. Hamlet asks Horatio to watch the kings reaction to the play. He says if the king becomes agitated he's guilty.
11. The play starts with the king talking to the queen. She promises her love to him forever. Then he goes to sleep and his brother pours poison in his ear. The king dies and his brother takes his wife.
12. It is meant to trap the king and prove his guilt of the murder.
13. He yells for it to stop and leaves. He doesn't want to have to remember his murder again.
14. A pipe. He says his friends think he's easier to play than a pipe.

"To be or not to be, that is the question." Possibly one of the most famous lines in Shakespeare, this gives us insight into what's going through Hamlets head. He does not want to have to suffer through life anymore, because everything is falling apart for him. "and by a sleep to say we end the heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks.." Hamlet is saying that death can take away his pain, and by killing himself he won't have to suffer because of Ophelia and Claudius. However Hamlet does express his fear of death and is worried that he might be destined for hell. He is worried about what's going to happen in death and he talks like death is a permanent dream that you can't escape. Hamlet is very distressed during this speech and doesn't know what to do. We see that Hamlet isn't entirely sure what to do, and probably is a little crazy here.

1. Interest is created by setting up death with a ghost. The ghost signifies murder and death and helps set up the conflict in the story.
2. The two gaurds talk about the war and Hamlet killing Fortinbras. Also we are given a description of the ghost who is the king.
3. The Ghost appears again and Horatio tries to get him to talk. The ghost ignores him and Marcellus tries to hit him with a spear.
4. The mood is dark, set up with the ghost and the gaurds, who reinforce the idea that there is conflict somewhere. Also, because the ghost is the king it sets up more conflict because ghosts normally warn of things to come.
5. The sentries are apprehensive because they know that ghosts mean bad things to come. Also, the ghost is wearing armor and may mean there is war coming.
6. The king might be warning of a coming war and that Young Fortinbras is coming to take his land back.
7. Marcellus, the ghost, Horatio, Francsico
8. Horatio talks about the king fighting Fortinbras and defeating him to win land.
9. Young Fortinbras is the son of Fortinbras who was defeated by Old Hamlet. He is the prince of Norway.
10. Horatio says that Rome fell apart. There were comets and people crawling out of their tombs
11. Horatio is not as scared of the ghost and seems to understand why the ghost is there.
12. Horatio gives us some background information about the conflict.
13. Denmark has had a previous conflict with Norway, and that Young Frtinbras might be coming to get his land back.

1. The first hunt is for a female deer. Bertilak does this by chasing it with dogs and blowing loud horns to scare it. There is very little difficulty for the hunters and they just slaughter everything. The lady sneaks into Gawain's room and tries to get him by using her charm. She never tries to trick him into doing anything and she is unseccesful. The second hunt is for the boar. The boar is very strong and hides, forcing the hunters to chase him down. Then Bertilak must get off his horse and kill the boar with a sword rather than arrows. This is much more dangerous for him. The lady goes in the second day and tries to flatter Gawain so that he will sleep with her. She offers herself to him but he resists and keeps himself pure. The last hunt is for the fox. The fox is very clever and eludes the hunters for a long time. It turns back and goes in circles to lose the hunters. Eventually they catch up and kill it, the kill was easy but the hunt was hard. The lady this time tries to trick Gawain today. She plays games and uses her charm. She doesn't really succeed in sleeping with him, but she does manage to mar his honor by giving him the sash.
2. Gawain is very honorable and is easy to respect in this situation. If I had been in this situation I doubt i would've been able to control myself as well as Gawain. He behaves well although I think he might've led the lady on too much. He seems to flirt with her too much and because of that he does lose honor by not giving the lord the girdle. He doesn't uphold his honor, if he had then the he would have given the lord the girdle and then not gotten his neck cut.
3. The climax is when the Green Giant swings the axe for the third time to chop off the head of Gawain. This is were he finds out if he has placed his trust in the right thing. Unfortunately he has been tricked and because he did not hold up his honor he was injured.
4. The girdle symbolizes paganism. It is something that is supposed to protect Gawain from death. He trusts in it more than he trusts in God in this story and that leads to dishonor. Had he trusted in God and not the girdle he wouldn't have been cut.

Role of Kings: The role of kings is very important. Hralf Kraki is a good king and leads his men in battle. He is very generous and because of that his knights are all loyal to him. King Adils however is a bad king. He pretends to welcom Half Kraki into his hall, but then secretly plots to kill him. Also we don't read of King Adils feats in battle so he might also be a coward. However, Hralf, Is shown leading his men into battle and is a great warrior. He is generous, brave, and a great leader which are the ideal qualities of a king.
Role of Warriors: Bodvar Bjarki, is a great warrior. He is always by his king and protecting him. In the final battle at the end of the book, he is seen as a bear and is undefeatable. The bear absolutely destroys everyone, but when he is waken up, the bear disappears and the battle is essentially lost. He however continues to protect his king until the death.
Role of Woman: We see Queen Olof as a woman who does not fill her role. She causes dispute and disrupts the peace. Usually a woman should help keep the peace and smooth over conflicts to keep her country peaceful.
Concept of Magic: When the farmer appears to Hralf Kraki and his men, this is the god Odin. He uses magic to appear in different places with and help the king and his champions. Then we see Skuld using her magic to raise the dead warriors while fighting Hralf Kraki. Had their been no magic in the story, Hralf Kraki probably would have won.
Revenge: Helgi Rapes Queen Olof as revenge for her tricking him and then tar and feathering him. She then tricks him into marrying his own daughter as revenge against him raping her.
Hospitality: King Adils is inhospitable to Hralf Kraki and his chamions. He pretends to greet them and then plots to kill Hralf. He makes the fire so hot that it kills people by it and then pretends he didnt order his subjects to do that. Eventually a fight starts and King Adils runs away.
Discuss One event that represents what you believe the book to be about: When the battle between Skuld and Hralf starts this is a battle betweeen new ideas and old ones. Skuld represents the old ones, like paganism, magic, and witchcraft. Hralf represents more of the new ideas such as christianity. He is a good king and the reader likes him more than Skuld. However Skuld wins the battle because of trickery, saying that possibly the old ideas are still being held onto by quite a few people, and some don't want to convert to a new idea.
How do Hralf and his champions compare to Author and his round table: Hralf is an excellent king and a brave warrior, very similarly to Hralf. His champions are the best fighters of the time and they are a picture of the perfect knight. They uphold the code of chivalry and dont abuse their power.
Compare Hralf Kraki to Beowulf: Hralf is a ridiculous fighter, and it's said that he destroys everyone who comes against him in the final battle. He helps rid the places of evil, for example when he kills king Adils the area ruled by him is freed from a greedy lustful king.

"the fight is not yours.." Beowulf does not want any men dying trying to kill this dragon. Its his fight and he doesn't want more loss of life, like what happened with Grendel. Possibly Beowulf loves his country more than initially thought.

"failed when he unsheathed" Yet again, Beowulf's sword failed him. He was trying to kill the dragon but the sword would not cut through his scales. Possibly a sign that Beowulf is forced by God to use only his bare hands as weapons.

"would keep its edge..." Wiglaf's sword would be able to cut the dragon, reinforcing the idea that Beowulf has been forced to use his bare hands. This and the text after, tells that the dragon doesnt have protection from swords, so Beowulf's sword should have cut it.

"so his ghastly dam struck back." Beowulf didn't understand the reason for Grendel's mom's attack. He took it for face value that she was just as evil as her son, but in reality she only wanted her sons arm back and wyrgyld. Had she been a man, what happened might've been acceptable.

"He had been poorly regarded by the Geats for a long time." Beowulf apparently wasn't liked for some reason. There was possibly something dishonorable he had done such as being greedy. This might be a foreshadow of things to come. maybe he wont be liked in the future as a king.

"that drove him into rage." The dragon was peaceful and only slept, but here when someone takes his treasure he gets mad. This says maybe the dragon isn't God coming for punishment for the death of Grendel and his mother. The dragon is just a signal of when it's Beowulf's time to die. It could be a symbol of death. It was doing nothing until It became time for Beowulf to die.

"After many trials, he ws destined to face the end of his days.." Beowulf knew he was going to die, but he didn't want his death to be of old age while he was on the throne. He wanted an honorable death. Perhaps a flaw or maybe not.

"He had scant regard for the dragoon as a threat,...." Beowulf was ready to die. He had lived a long life and done many great things. Beowulf was happy with his life. He was ready to pass on the throne.

"But he soon found his battle-torch extinguished." The sword given to Beowulf by Unferth was a failure. Rather than help him it got him in much more trouble, fighting a beast with no weapons. This might suggest that Unferth wanted Beowulf to die, because he was jealous or wanted revenge for being embarrassed.
"Only Beowulf could wield in battle" Beowulf might've been fated to win this battle. If it had been any other warrior, they would not have been able to lift the sword.
"its blade had melted" Grendel's mother is truly evil and her blood melted an ancient very powerful sword. The sword might've been there just for that battle and after it had been won the sword disappeared.
"marked him from the very start for a happy life" Beowulf is marked for a happy life. But he needs to be careful because this other king had gone crazy and was a horrible king who killed his subjects and was dishonorable. Possibly a foreshadow to what will happen to Beowulf or that god is not happy about the death of Grendel and his mother.
A need for rest came over the brave shield bearing Geat." Beowulf is not a god or invincible. The battle wore him out so he is human just a much more powerful one.

"each one of them still trusted the other." says that maybe other parts of the family had reasons to distrust each other. Possibly one of the family killed another or was dishonorable in battle. Although the uncle and the nephew get along maybe there was another nephew who had caused problems.

"the threat looming over the thanes as the night approached." Foreshadow for a new danger and a new test for Beowulf. Grendels mother. They had gotten overconfident and many of the people at the party payed for it with their lives.

"She had been forced down after Cain had killed his father's son..." Grendels mother might have been Cain's lover or relative. This sounds like she was alive during that time.

"were grabbed from the bench, many a broad shield lifted and braced.." Grendel's mother appears to be very clever by taking the weapons before she attacks. She will probably be a much tougher enemy than her son.

"I count myself as dangerous any day as Grendel." Beowulf sounds very sure of himself in this sentence. It hints at his skill as a fighter and his strength. In my opinion he probably underestimated Grendel.

"None of them expected he would ever see his homeland again..." The warriors alongside Beowulf didn't seem to trust him very much. Also apparently none of them trusted in their own fighting abilities. It makes me think that possibly Beowulf isnt quite the fighter he sounded like, or the warriors don't know him that well.

"Spurned and joyless, he journeyed on ahead and arrived at the bawn." Grendel had just passed a large pile of gold and didnt care. Grendel obviously has no desire for anything other than destruction.

"in a handgrip harder than anything he had ever encountered in any man on the face of the earth." When Grendel tries to grab Beowulf he is shocked and scared. Beowulf is much stronger than him and he wants to escape. But, because of beowulf's strength he can't get away. This says Beowulf is stronger than any man and sounds like he might not be a normal human. Possibly a semi god or a hero.

"his bodily powers failed him." Grendel, who normally had no problem killing men, was now getting destroyed. He was used to having his way and not worrying about injury, but here was someone ripping him apart.

Literary Elements

Metaphor- A Metaphor is a figure of speech concisely comparing two things, saying that one is the other.
Example- Juliet is the sun.
Explanation- The metaphor is used to describe Juliet, and how important she is to Romeo. Like the sun, if she was gone Romeo could not survive. The use of this device creates a better sense of how much Romeo truly cares about his lover. If it had just said i love Juliet, the text would have been boring and wouldn't have drawn the reader in so well.

Beowulf Criticism

In the Essay by J.R.R. Tolkien, he explains why the story is not just a historical document but a work of art too. He starts by attacking previous critics like, Beowolfania. He says they think that Beowulf is a story full of empty meaning and just rambles on and on. J.R.R. thinks the writing that says that is actually guilty of the same thing, long pointless ramblings. He thinks that critics and scholars should look at the poem as a great work of art, a poem that is unmatched in quality by anything. The stance that scholars took on Beowulf before didn't allow them to get the full meaning of the story. they were too focused on the historical facts in the story.
The critics looked at the story originally and decided that it was a relatively weak fantasy story, a fairy tale. They were a dime a dozen in the medievel times. Hero kills monster, monster kills hero, the end. But beowulf has much more than your average fairy tale, it has some of the best writing ever to be produced, even today there is no match to the poem.
Had Tolkien not taken this stance on the story, it might not have been studied by schools. Scholars would continue to take it as a historical document that provides insight into the medievel mind and nothing more.