Exercises

Directions: By the end of the the four exercise below, you should have inserted each type of opener: quotation, directive, personal narrative, and rhetorical questions.

Exercise #1:

Hamlet: Scourge and Minister?

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By exploring Hamlet’s actions, after he claims to be scourge and minister, Hamlet shows that he fulfills his role as scourge, to some extent taking it too far, but does not fulfill his role as minister. Hamlet carries out his self-described role of scourge in killing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and avenging his father’s wrongful death, but does not succeed as minister when he claims that young Fortinbras should rule Denmark.

Exercise #2:

Gus’s Journey toward Native Intelligence

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In David James Duncan’s novel, The River Why, the idea of native intelligence is explored and developed through the main protagonist, Gus. Duncan describes establishing native intelligence through “long intimacy with an intelligent native or native world,” and says: “you begin to catch it kind of like you catch a cold.” As Gus develops throughout the novel and becomes aware of his surroundings, both in society and nature, he catches this cold. Gus is born with the kind of native intelligence Duncan describes in his definition, and from a young age he has a harmonious relationship with the river and nature. However, Gus has always been an outcast from society, and the native intelligence he seeks is societal. Gus begins his life disconnected and confused about the world around him. Nevertheless, Gus conquers his uncertainties and develops the societal intelligence he lacks. As Gus transforms from a depressed, misanthropic, doubtful adolescent into a devoted, compassionate and native adult, his experiences with love, spirituality and environmental destruction help him to discover his spirit and passion for life.

Exercise #3:

Oneness with Nature, God, and One’s Self

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Both William Wordsworth and William Blake lived through the peak years of the Romantic Movement (late 1700s to early 1800s). The Romantics appreciated and found spirituality through nature. Romantic poets sought to answer one essential question: how one finds faith in God, nature, and one’s self. In order to further understand how William Blake and William Wordsworth came to their conclusions on how to find faith in God, nature, and one’s self, the concepts of “organized innocence” and the “philosophical mind” must first be defined. William Blake believed that one must travel through an innocent and experienced perspective in order to value the innocent perspective (view that world is orderly and God has a plan), while being aware of the tragic (or experienced) vision (world is not orderly, no greater power). This leads one to acquire an “organized innocent” perspective. William Wordsworth believed that one must travel through innocent oneness with nature and God, to an adult perspective that is aware of mortality. This awareness leads to valuing oneness with nature, God, and one’s self in what is called the “philosophic mind.” Through William Blake’s “Songs of Innocence” and “Songs of Experience” and William Wordsworth’s poems, “My Heart Leaps Up when I Behold,” and “Tintern Abbey.” Both poets answer the question that all Romantic poets sought to answer; how can one achieve oneness with God, nature, and one’s self? Despite never reading each other’s work, they come to their conclusions through surprisingly similar paths

Exercise #4:

The Genius of Shakespeare

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Some believe that in his play, The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare shows prejudice beliefs in his portrayal of the character, Shylock. Written in the 1595, The Merchant of Venice gives readers an idea of the prejudice behavior of Christians towards Jews in Venice, Italy during late 1500 and 1600s. To better understand the idea of prejudice, the concept of appearance vs. reality must first be explained. One, who is prejudice, is one who judges someone based upon one’s appearance parenthetic. This appearance is often a generalization, and the reality can differ from this appearance. It is my belief that in writing The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare was entirely aware of the prejudice that existed in Venice. He was showing people that this treatment of Jews was the wrong way to act. By writing this play, Shakespeare teaches us that all humans are equal. He does this by showing us that Jews and Christians are equal, that one should never judge one by their appearance, and that Jews acted the way they did because they were forced to, proving that Shakespeare was not prejudice in writing The Merchant of Venice.