Discussion and Writing Prompt
Make a T-chart for what you know and what you are left wondering at the end of Act 1, Scene 1 .
Criteria for Success
Identifies at least three-four details that the audience knows about the setting, mood, characters, and/or conflicts.
Identifies at least two questions that are left unanswered at the end of the scene.
Sample Response
What I know
What I am left wondering
Barnardo, Francisco, Horatio and Marcellus are guards.
The setting is a cold, dark night outside of a castle in Denmark.
The ghost of the dead king Hamlet appears twice in this scene but does not speak.
King Hamlet killed Fortinbras of Norway in combat and seized his lands as a result.
Denmark is preparing for possible war with the young Fortinbras of Norway.
Horatio, Barnardo, and Marcellus plan to tell the young Hamlet about the ghost.
When and how did King Hamlet die?
Who is ruling Denmark now if King Hamlet is dead?
Why has the ghost appeared? What does it want?
Can the ghost speak? If so, why won't the ghost speak to Horatio, Barnardo, and Marcellus?
Will there be a war with Norway?
How will Hamlet react to the news of his father's ghost appearing at night?