• Best of luck to the class of 2024 for their HSC exams. You got this!
    Let us know your thoughts on the HSC exams here
  • YOU can help the next generation of students in the community!
    Share your trial papers and notes on our Notes & Resources page

Hamlet - loyalty WTF??? (1 Viewer)

Drewx

Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2009
Messages
113
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
Is it me or was this question too precise and not broad enough to constitute as a HSC exam question. I really had trouble getting my quotes to fit the question as I had next to none that related to loyalty at all.

Did anyone else think this or am I the only one?
 

BrookeMaree

New Member
Joined
May 28, 2009
Messages
4
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
Is it me or was this question too precise and not broad enough to constitute as a HSC exam question. I really had trouble getting my quotes to fit the question as I had next to none that related to loyalty at all.

Did anyone else think this or am I the only one?
I realy liked this question didnt know shit about Hamlet but question made it easy to talk about who was loyal to who etc..
 

TaraBella

New Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2008
Messages
22
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
Eh I found it alright. I did the loyalty between gertrude and hamlet, about hamlets loyalty to his father and how the lack of loyalty gertrude showed to his father. And about because of Hamlet's loyalty, he was driven to avenge his father etc. I made the question work for me.
 

x_symphonic

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2009
Messages
116
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
i reckon it was okay. You can tie in several quotes with loyalty AND disloyalty.
 

katerebecca

Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2008
Messages
36
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
Talked about use of antithesis, Shakespeare shows us about disloyalty ;) I loved it. Did hardly any prep so it was good for me.
 

Tulii

Like the sun will rise.
Joined
Oct 15, 2008
Messages
130
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
The question said 'To what extent' did your interpretation support that view.You didn't have to centre the whole thing on loyalty, The question invited you to include what other human experiences in 'Hamlet' were reinforced. Particulary those that that had meaning for you.I talked about the exploration of the meaning of existence, as it is a relevant aspect of the human condition, for all contexts.
 

freaky.styly

Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2008
Messages
43
Location
Hills District
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
its just a contorted excuse to talk about textual integrity/ readings blah blah mine was just existentialism, hamlet's ontological relationship with life/death. prob a 17
 

Blobulator

Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2008
Messages
39
Location
NSW, Australia.
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
I found it a fine question really. Linked fairly easily with all that filial duty stuff and his loyalty to his father. Threw in some Laertes comparisons with Hamlet in regards to loyalty to Ophelia and action as well for good measure. Worked fairly well with all the ideas and quotes I'd prepared since they centred around human experience and filial duty anyway, just had to tweak it slightly. I was pleased, heh.
 

roar84eighty

Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2008
Messages
507
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
The question said 'To what extent' did your interpretation support that view.You didn't have to centre the whole thing on loyalty, The question invited you to include what other human experiences in 'Hamlet' were reinforced. Particulary those that that had meaning for you.

I talked about the exploration of the meaning of existence, as it is a relevant aspect of the human condition, for all contexts.
yes while i agree with this, teachers (such as those who marked our trials) view this counter-argument as evidence of your lack of knowledge on that particular issue.

but i hope hsc marking isn't like that aye
 

Safa_2009

New Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2009
Messages
6
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
the question was okay i managed o incoporate my readings of corruption and melancholy by stating that there was corruption because of disloyalty(claudius) and that hamlet was melancholic and troubled because of his mothers disloyalty to his father because she married claudius.
 

blabla91

Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2008
Messages
41
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
I wasn't a big fan... most of my preparation was on meaning and purpose etc but i just talked about the disloyalty in society then the family disloyalty and how this affected hamlet... probably used the word 'disloyal' too much and it wasnt the most structured essay ive ever written
 

raniaaa

:)
Joined
Mar 21, 2008
Messages
480
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
nah i think you could've swung it many ways. if you talked about deception & appearance vs. reality well that's being disloyal, if you talked about the corruption in denmark well again that's disloyalty to the state.. i talked mainly about the disloyalty of gertrude to the late king hamlet, as well as claudius' disloyalty... and hamlet's loyalty to his father's request for revenge, and rosencrantz & guildenstern's disloyalty to hamlet :)
 

Tulii

Like the sun will rise.
Joined
Oct 15, 2008
Messages
130
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
yes while i agree with this, teachers (such as those who marked our trials) view this counter-argument as evidence of your lack of knowledge on that particular issue.

but i hope hsc marking isn't like that aye
I've had it cemented into my head that 'To what extent' allows you to extend your answer beyond the specific idea they provide. After all, Hamlet is all about your interpretation. If you honestly did not believe that loyalty was a significant aspect of the play (in your interpretation) and perhaps it was taken away from the focus due to the larger (in my opinion) human experiencesI still talked about how loyalty is reinforced to an extent..through the teetering loyal to disloyal relationship of Hamlet and Ophelia and Horatios never flailing loyalty to Hamlet. But I didnt give it 'stage focus', afte rI explained the other human experiences I thought were more dominating I emphasised why supersede loyalty. Perhaps I am wrong?
 

Ethanescence

Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2007
Messages
439
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
Basically the markers aren't going to care whether you thought the play emphasised the importance of loyalty or disloyalty. They care about if you addressed the question or not. Disloyalty still addresses the question, and so does loyalty (or a combination of both). Basically the main discriminators for marks will be: [Addresses an interpretation question of loyalty in the thesis, and throughout the essay] * [An informed response - extensive knowledge of the play, use of vocabulary and good textual evidence] * [Structure of the essay - punctuation, paragraphing, definite introduction, body and conclusion] * [Quality of ideas/themes - how you express the ideas and how indicative they are your own interpretations] * [The overall impact of the essay and how well you developed your thesis]
 

jessmooka

don't leapfrog unicorns.
Joined
Sep 2, 2008
Messages
150
Location
Parkes, Central NSW
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
I loved this question... hey did anyone else study different productions of the text? like the movie compared to a Sydney play version? Cos my teacher drilled into us that we had to learn this but i didnt see the point. I chucked in a paragraph on the Oedipus complex, and then the loyalty of Hamlet to his dad, and then Laertes loyalty to Ophelia that drove him to fight halet in O's grave...
 

monsters

New Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2008
Messages
24
Location
St Andrews
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
i loooooved this question. i think where a lot of people will get trapped is trying to encompass a lot of the 'loyalty/disloyalty' concepts in the form of character relationships and situations, where we've been taught to form our own personal interpretation of the text and hence be able to narrow it down in order to enforce our opinion. yes, loyalty is shown by hamlet and laertes and ophelia and horatio, and disloyalty shown by gertrude and claudius. but that's just skimming the surface. you have to have body behind it, linking it all to relevent ideas that contribute to its textual integrity blah blah. but yes. loved it.
 

Ausy

New Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2008
Messages
9
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
It asked if your interpretation supported the idea of loyalty or not, if you just talked about loyalty the whole time and didn't talk about your own reading you kinda went off the point of the essay. That's my opinion though; which is what i understood the question as asking.
 

Venom.

Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2008
Messages
640
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
Lol Just threw in my themes essay - linked corruption and madness to the concept of disloyalty - significance of hamlet's madness; led to by the overt corruption and disloyalty within society. Probs around a 15-16 I think, who gives a flying fuck English is finally over.
 

monsters

New Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2008
Messages
24
Location
St Andrews
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
Lol Just threw in my themes essay - linked corruption and madness to the concept of disloyalty - significance of hamlet's madness; led to by the overt corruption and disloyalty within society. Probs around a 15-16 I think, who gives a flying fuck English is finally over.
but hamlet isn't mad :)
 

tku336

Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2009
Messages
248
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
Uh I think the whole point was to deal with loyalty and disloyalty, and how these concepts related to your thesis.

If you mentioned loyalty but then went straight on to your own essay, I highly doubt that will get you above 16.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top