Podcast

Hello, my little potato monsters. My friends and I recorded a podcast on the ever-so-popular Hamlet. Give it a try and listen to it :D

In Act 2 Scene 1:
Vanantorn as Polonius
So-hyun as Reynaldo
Tanat as Ophelia (:S)

In Act 2 Scene 2:
Alek as King Claudius
Vanantorn still as Polonius
So-hyun as Rosencrantz
Tanat as Hamlet


Links:

Hamlet Act 2 Scene 1
Hamlet Act 2 Scene 2

Hamlet Response Journal Act 1 scene 1 to Act 1 scene 5

Journal for Act 1, scene 1 to Act 1, scene 5

1.How does the play make you feel at this point? Record your emotional response(s) in a few sentences and then explore them for a few minutes, trying to figure out why you feel as you do. 

 At first, reading through the story, I barely understood anything... The vocabulary in the story was beyond that of my comprehension and I just understood the main idea of the story. Later on, I read an analysis of the story and it helped me a lot. After that, I re-read the story again and I realized a lot of things I didn't see at first. Knowing that this is Shakespeare's (and with people spoiling me) I know that the story won't be filled with a 5th grade plot where there's a king and everyone hates the king and soon the king is overthrown. I am sure there will be some plot twist and somehow Leartes's father and sister will die and everything will be messed up. I just can't wait to read to that point. In conclusion, I guess I'm really excited for what's about to come.

2. In what situations have you felt similar to the characters? What persons, places, or ideas from your own experiences came to your mind while you were reading this portion of the play? Try to list at least three associations, but don't worry about trying to figure out why they come to mind. Just accept that they occur.

 a. When Horatio and Marcellus saw the ghost it reminded me of the ghost stories I had heard about seeing ghosts. I myself had not seen one, but I had had instances where I would hear sounds I shouldn't hear. For example, I would hear the sound of the grandpa clock that has stopped working for a long time. There are a lot of stories but I don't want to tell all of them, you know the main idea.

    I had always been fascinated by ghosts. It makes me wonder why these supernatural beings come to life and visit our world and what they want from us. I would research more on this, but I'm also extremely scared of ghosts. I really hate it when there are screamers. You know, you read an article on it and suddenly a ghost pops out and you jump off your chair screaming, too. Yeah, I hate those.

 b. When Hamlet knows of his family and the state they are in, he was very sad and even said things like he'd be better off dead. Well it reminded me of my own family. I don't feel comfortable to write this where anyone can read this, so let me just put it this way... I'm not so family oriented... Well although my stories aren't as sad and messed up as Hamlet's it still reminded me of that.

 

 c. When Polonius lectured Leartes and Ophelia and when Leartes lectured Ophelia reminded me of all those times that my mom would lecture me. The only difference is that Leartes and Ophelia actually listened while I just mutter "yeah, yeah, yeah," hoping it would end soon. I'm not an obedient child, deal with it. I actually thought that Ophelia would say to Leartes that she would not see Hamlet but when actually she will go and see Hamlet, but I guess it would be Romeo and Juliet inside Hamlet which would make the story really crappy.

 

3. What portions of Shakespeare's language attracts your attention? These might be individual words, phrases, lines, scenes, or images. Make note of whatever features draw your attention. Speculate for a few minutes about what you think they might mean.

 I don't know... The words he used didn't really attracts my attention. It confuses me and being like a potato, I am too lazy to get open some sort of Shakespeare dictionary to search up all these words and just try my best with context clue. For some reason whatsoever, I like the fact that he used the word 'incestuous' quite a couple of times. I don't know it just attracts me... 

4. Make note of any portion of the play, its language, or events that cause you problems. Note any questions that you might ask. 

 Well I had a lot of questions, but I just read the analysis and I just understood most of them. For the language, I have so many words I am not sure of the definition, but I just used context clues... I still will never understand why Gertrude would marry Claudius... I guess maybe Claudius "seduced" her... Oh no I don't want to imagine the scene... Maybe he got Gertrude pregnant and then had to marry her after that... I mean that's why 64.5% of marriages occur. (Yes, I made that number up)

Spectator Sport: Playtime

 I walked up the stairs towards the third floor. I was at Playtime, an oversize nursery for kids. I went to the toilet to calm myself down. I was nervous. Who wouldn’t be? I was about to apply for my first job ever. After calming myself down, I went to the door. Nervously, I pushed the door and went in. I looked around. To the left there were counters placed in a semi circle. Then there was a small gate towards the gift shop and probably some activity rooms. Beside the gate was another gate to the playground and to the right of that was the place where they sell socks to those in need of one. 

 I walked to the counter, because that’s probably where people who wanted jobs go to. The receptionist asked me what was I there for. I just told her that I wanted a part-time job. She asked me again if it’s the ones for weekends. Without thinking I just nodded. Actually at that time I wanted a job for the entire week. I didn’t want to make awkward pauses at such easy questions, so I said whatever came into my mind first.

The lady then guided me upstairs to one of the party rooms and gave me a form to fill out. The room was rather small, quite small for a party room. There were three desks with small chairs for children to sit. There’s a stage in front with cardboard cut-outs of trees and castles.

After a while, another lady walked in. She asked me questions, so I answered them. While doing the interview I was reluctant. Did I want that job? Would I even get accepted? It is minimum wage… should I even try? I barely talked about my good qualities. I don’t know what really happened. I didn't know what went in my mind. I just answered the questions. The interviewer said that she would call back if I got the job.

When the interview was finished, I exited Playtime and walked down the stairs. My mind was in a total blur. They never called back. I’m not sure if I should be happy or not…

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