Passage Explication Paper

Write a formal analytical essay explicating a passage of your choice in Hamlet.

To explicate a passage an essayist must unfold its meaning by meticulously explaining

(1) what content is being conveyed,

(2) how the content is conveyed through literary and rhetorical techniques, and

(3) how the passage* is significant within the work as a whole.

(1)

What does the passage say?

What is significant about what it says?

(2)

How is the passage is written?

What is significant about how it is written?

(3)

How is the passage (and how it is written) related to the whole?

What is significant about the passage in relation to the whole?

*******

Prewriting

Type the passage.

Reread the passage aloud.

Annotate the passage meticulously.

Write down everything you notice.

Write down questions.

Create a provisional bold, insight giving an overview of (1) (2) (3) in a unified manner.

Organize your annotations into a logical sequence of particular insights about the text that will support your central insight about the passage as a whole.

Writing

Introduction

Create the necessary context for the reader to understand your insight and its significance.

The context will then lead into your central insight—your bold assertion.

Body paragraphs

Follow your plan—the logical sequence of particular insights that support the overall insight.

Remember: Work meticulously through the text (from beginning to end) unfolding how (1) meaning, (2) technique, and (3) connections to the whole found throughout the passage contribute to the overall insight (1, 2, 3).

If some part doesn’t fit your big idea you have to re-evaluate the big idea.

*

State an interpretive idea.

Support it (usually with a direct quotation).

Explain how the supporting evidence (usually a quotation) develops the idea.