Research Paper on "Hamlet and Horatio the Relationship"

Quoted Instructions for "Hamlet and Horatio the Relationship" Assignment:

This paper is urgent as the deadline is midnight tonight, November 19. I wish I had found your services soon, but just came across it. Please let me know whether or not it can be completed by this time deadline. I want the paper regardless, but it may not be accepted if late.

This is the Topic paragraph I turned in, followed by a few paragraphs of basic outline (Please use these as an opening paragraph and to generate the content, as well as a writing style guide to try to match my style & terminology. You may revise the first paragraph, the theme statement, but try not to deviate from my terminology or writing stle too much, I worry about it sounding different and raising a red flag as not authored by me):

In William Shakespeare’s play, “Hamlet,” Hamlet and Horatio have a completely compatible, successful relationship that mutually benefits them both. They are brothers in a truer sense than paternal brothers often are. Their personalities, ambitions, and intelligence are complementary and mutually beneficial. Hamlet and Horatio enjoy a successful, faithful, unwavering, and fraternal friendship.

Thesis points thoughts related to the topic paragraph(see professor's requirements below, at least one quotation from the poetry itself for each thesis point I make, and 5 secondary sources, all to be cited in MLA format -see below):

Hamlet is depressive and brooding, whereas Horatio’s optimism offsets this destructive behavior.

Hamlet has ambition for power, but Horatio’s only ambition is to support Hamlet and be by his side. This support and loyalty is something that Hamlet desperately needs since he cannot trust even his closest family members.

Hamlet and Horatio are both extremely intelligent and analytical. Hamlet uses words to express himself, manipulate those around him, and accomplish his goals. Horatio is completely intelligent and understands the word play, but chooses not to participate. He prefers to let the eloquent master play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

The following are two character sketches which were required as a precurser to the research paper assignment (they were turned in separately). Please use these to generate your content and as a writing style guide to try to match my style & terminology:

In William Shakespeare’s play, “Hamlet,” Hamlet is an eloquent, astute, and somewhat depressive Prince of Denmark. Hamlet eloquently uses words to express himself and to manipulate those around him. His words generate admiration and draw people to his character. He also adeptly uses words to create confusion and gain knowledge of circumstance. However, words imprison him as his over-analysis sometimes confuses even himself, leading him to indecisiveness. Hamlet is astute, showing shrewdness and discernment in his dealings with family and friends. His eyes are open, and not much escapes his attention. He uses the information gained from his observations to set traps for his possible enemies. Hamlet is well in tune with his natural tendency toward depressive behavior. He broods over every situation and loathes himself for his inadequacies. His over-analysis often paralyzes him and eventually leads to his demise. Hamlet’s eloquence and astute mind uncover the murder of his father and the deceit of his murderous stepfather, Claudius. Tragically, depressive behavior causes indecisiveness which consumes the eloquent, astute Prince and leads to his demise.

In William Shakespeare’s play, “Hamlet,” Horatio is faithful, intelligent, and trustworthy. He is Prince Hamlet’s one true friend and never falters in his faithfulness. Horatio remains faithful throughout Shakespeare’s play and only once questions Hamlet’s rash actions, when Hamlet divulges the fates of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Horatio allows neither ambition nor deceit to determine his loyalties. Horatio is an intelligent man with the ability to follow Hamlet’s masterful word play, but chooses not to partake in the game. Although his astute intelligence matches Hamlet’s, it does not drive or consume him. Hamlet trusts Horatio explicitly as he consistently confides in him. Just before his death, Hamlet expresses his deep love and trust for Horatio by entreating him to “tell my story” (1091). Horatio is Hamlet’s faithful, trustworthy, and equally intelligent friend.

The following is the instructions from the Professor for the research paper. I have done steps 1-4, see above:

Session 7 Handout 1

Topic, Procedure, and Guidelines for the Researched Drama Paper

Topic:

1. Relationships in Hamlet.

2. You may be able to continue exploring the same male-female relationship you worked with in your fiction paper.

3. Or you may find a new relationship to explore --perhaps one between two males (friends? father/son?).

Procedure:

1. From Hamlet, choose two characters who are in relationship with each other. (You will be asked to make this choice in the Session 8 Threaded Discussion.)

2. Write your own character sketch of each of the characters, exploring their character traits, recording specific quoted evidence from the play. (You will be asked to write these character sketches as journal entries in Sessions 8 and 9. Session 8 includes a Handout on writing character sketches.)

3. Consider the cause-and-effect relationship between these two characters' traits and the success or failure of their relationship. (This relationship is one of the topics in Session 11 Threaded Discussion.)

4. Formulate an assertive statement of theme regarding that relationship to use as the central idea for your paper. (This formulation is the other topic in Session 11 Threaded Discussion.)

5. Research the two characters and their relationship using scholarly critical secondary sources.

6. Refine your statement of theme based on your research findings and formulate a comparison-contrast thesis using three to five character traits as developmental points or a cause-and-effect thesis with three to five developmental points.

Guidelines and Content/Format Requirements:

1. The paper should use Modern Language Association (MLA) format for its text, its in-text citations, and its works cited. (Consult your handbook. Note especially the student papers on drama and poetry in chapter 37 of S&S or chapter 10 of SMG.) Most of Hamlet's text is poetry, so you'll want to be sure that you incorporate the quotations of lines of poetry properly. Also, since Hamlet is a play, the in-text parenthetical citations specify the act, scene, and line numbers, not the page number. The following quote should be cited as such: "But I have that within which passes show, / These but the trappings and the suits of woe" (1.2.85-6).

2. The paper should be 5- to 7-pages long and must include at least one piece of specific evidence (a significant direct quotation) from Hamlet for each thesis point and significant, relevant direct quotations from at least five secondary sources.

3. The Works Cited page will include both the primary source (Hamlet) and at least five secondary sources.

4. You may be able to do all of the research for your paper on the web. The Web Sites tab on the course menu has some places to start. The URLs of electronic sources not already posted to Web Sites must be submitted for instructor approval. Once approved, please post the URL to Web Sites. Normally URLs ending in .edu will be approved unless they provide only general study aids or plot summaries like Cliff’s Notes or Monarch Notes. Such material is not acceptable research because it is neither critical nor scholarly. Try to incorporate your research material--at least one quote from each secondary source--equally throughout the paper. Ideally the supporting secondary material will fit into the paper’s developmental paragraphs, but you might find a quote that would work nicely in either the introduction or the conclusion.

5. The paper should incorporate the use of literary conventions: Use the present tense. Identify fully the author(s) and work(s) discussed in the introduction. Afterwards, refer to authors by their last names.

Note: When you are writing about a literary work, it is very, very important to name the title of the work correctly and to spell the authors' and characters’ names correctly. If you err in either of these, you severely damage your credibility as a *****. Because care for one’s credibility is so important to Christian character, for the misuse of the title of a work or the misspelling of an author’s or a character’s name in a paper presented for evaluation in this class, I will deduct 5 points from the essay’s evaluation.