Other examples
of material from secondary sources being used more effectively to support interpretations
Example 1
Essay question: 'The introduction
of the players and the discussion of the theatre reflect a major thematic concern
of Hamlet.' Discuss.
This is an extract from a student's essay, answering the question quoted above:
'This is Hamlet reflecting
on the players' opening speech. These different reflections, and reflections
of reflections contribute to the exploration of illusion and reality,
or rather, 'seems' and 'is'. Hamlet’s rejection of the language of the
court could be viewed as part of this exploration. Hamlet wilfully misinterprets
what is said to him in order to emphasise this complex theme. Sighurd
Burckhardt writes '...it denies the meaningfulness of words and so calls
into question the genuiness of the linguistic currency on which the
social order depends.' (quoted in Danson, 1974, p.27) This play on words
and misinterpretation on Hamlet's part indicates, again, his concern
with what 'appears' to be as opposed to the many other hidden interpretations.
Q. Why is this effective?
TUTOR'S REPLY
The essayist makes a critical point
about Hamlet’s rejection of the language of the court and quotes directly
from a secondary text to substantiate it. The sentence which follows this
quotation relates what the critic is saying back to the overall theme (of
appearance and reality) that is being discussed in the essay.
Example 2
Essay question: 'The
introduction of the players and the discussion of the theatre reflect a major
thematic concern of Hamlet.' Discuss.
This is an extract from a student essay, responding to the question quoted above:
'The use of players and a play-within-the-play is a dramatic device
to not only reflect the host play, but to reinforce the illusion that
the host play is a reality. Robert J Nelson writes of the convention
‘The play within a play is the theatre reflecting on itself, on its
own paradoxical seeming.’ (quoted in Danson, 1974, p.23).'
Q. Why is this effective?
TUTOR'S REPLY
The material from the secondary
source appropriately supports the critical point which is being made, and
the quotation is adequately woven into the body of the essay.
