Activity: Cut To

DURATION: Approximately 60 minutes

This activity was provided by Paula Nevins (BA, BEd, MA, OCT); adapted from an activity shared at a past Stratford Festival’s teacher workshop. It can be followed by Soliloquy Remix

Overall Objective Students understand the overall meaning of the soliloquies in Hamlet and gain insight into the essence of the soliloquy by distilling it down to one word

Learning Objectives Students gain skills in order to comprehend dense and complex text Students rank and evaluate what is most important in the play.

Steps Activity Instructions

1 10 minutes Preparation Print copies of the soliloquies (see Appendix B). Prepare Post-it notes in various sizes (largest, second largest, square, small, flag). Collect writing utensils such as pens, pencils, and markers.

2 5 minutes Assign Soliloquies Divide the class into small groups of 3-5. Provide each group with one of the soliloquies from Hamlet

• “O that this too, too sullied flesh”

• “O what a rogue and peasant slave”

• “To be or not to be”

• “My offence is rank, it smells to heaven”

• “How all occasions do inform against me”

3 10 minutes First Cut Ask each group to cut the soliloquy down to the five lines that best express the meaning and write those lines on the largest post-it.

4 20 minutes Cut and Repeat

1. Switch groups – cut the soliloquy down to three lines (use the second largest post-it)

2. Switch groups – cut to five words (square post-it)

3. Switch groups – cut to three words (small post-it)

4. Switch groups – cut to one word (post-it flag)

Full example below.

5 5 minutes Completion Ask groups to read the final words in order of first to last soliloquy.

6 10 minutes Reflection Discussion questions

• What was challenging about this exercise?

• Did the difficulty level change as the exercise progressed?

• How does the one word you chose reflect the larger meaning of the soliloquy?

These questions may be answered in writing or verbally.

Educator Assessment

Have students put consideration into what is most important? Have students worked together to communicate and distill the soliloquy down to a single word?

What are students gaining from this experience?

Example from Romeo & Juliet

Original text: (Juliet)

O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?

Deny thy father and refuse thy name.

Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love

And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy:

Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.

What’s Montague? It is nor hand nor foot

Nor arm nor face nor any other part

Belonging to a man. O be some other name.

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet;

So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d, Retain that dear perfection which he owes Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name, And for that name, which is no part of thee, Take all myself.

Cut to five lines:

Deny thy father and refuse thy name.

Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love

And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.

And for that name, which is no part of thee, take all myself.

Cut to three lines:

Deny thy father and refuse thy name.

And I’ll no longer be a Capulet. And for that name, which is no part of thee, take all myself.

Cut to five words:

Deny father name take myself

Cut to three words:

Deny take myself

Cut to one word: Myself