I am having trouble with my draft and my final essay.  My paper was on Hamlet.

To begin, gather the following:  Rough drafts and final copies of all essays.

First, think about the improvements you made when revising the rough draft of your first essay. What changes did you make to the rough draft in order to make it a final draft? In what area(s) did you need to improve the most (grammar, thesis statement, introduction, etc.)? How big of a role did peer and/or instructor feedback play in your improvements? Did you receive good advice from your peers and/or instructor? Did you use that to make improvements to your essay? Next, look over the rough draft and final draft of your second essay. Look at the questions above, and answer those questions for the rough and final drafts of your second essay. In addition to those questions, answer the following. Was the second essay easier to write than the first? Why or why not? Now, look over your Hamlet essay. How difficult was it for you to write this essay? Did your growth as a writer over the course of the semester make this essay easier to write? Finally, think back over the course of the semester as a whole. How did your writing improve? What improvements do you still need to make? Explain why you should pass this course based on what you have learned and how you have grown as a writer. Make sure you have a proper introduction, body paragraphs (with topic sentences), and conclusion. Essay Requirements:  MLA style (Failure to follow MLA rules for formatting and documenting will result in a significant reduction in your grade.)  12-point font (Times New Roman only)  At least 1 ½ to 2 pages (Essays shorter than this will receive a significant reduction in points.) Due Date: Check “Course Schedule” in syllabus for due date. Essay Submission: Check syllabus for submission

For this essay, I want you to explore one of more of the following themes in Hamlet.

1. The role and treatment of women in the play—What purpose do the women serve in this play? What is Hamlet’s demeanor when he interacts with the women? Does Shakespeare use the female characters to make a social statement about how women were treated by society?

2. Mortality—From beginning to end, Hamlet ponders the meaning of life and death. Explore this theme, and discuss why you think it is such a major theme in the play. What was Shakespeare’s purpose for including so much talk and thought about mortality?

3. Politics, politics, and more politics—When Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, there was a tremendous amount of political unrest in Denmark, and many critics believe that Shakespeare wrote Hamlet as a way to express his opinion concerning the unrest. Do you find this to be true? If so, what statement is he making?

4. Madness—At the beginning of the play, Hamlet is pretending to be insane in order to obtain information about his father’s death. As the play progresses, one could argue that Hamlet stops acting insane and actually becomes insane. Do you believe this is true? Did Shakespeare use this theme to make some type of political and/or social statement? What about the other characters? Are there other characters in the play who are insane or who go insane at some point in the play