By English Department faculty member Timothy Quinn ’96

This year many of Westminster’s Sixth Form students took their study of Shakespeare’s Hamlet in new and exciting directions. Rather than simply being required to write an analytical essay about the play — the traditional and time-honored assessment of a student’s understanding of literature — this year’s students were asked to “show their knowledge, their understanding, and their own unique interpretation of the play” in any form they wished. While many still opted for the analytical essay (Essay 1, Essay 2, Essay 3, Essay 4) (and plenty of fabulous essays were produced) a number of students chose to do more creative projects. The projects all fell under the following broad categories: recitations, presentations, films, musical recordings, and visual art. The recitations, presentations, and musical recordings were all performed for the entire Sixth Form in the Sejong Lecture Hall; the films were posted on YouTube where they were available for the Sixth Form to view; and the visual art was put on display for the entire school community in the Offield Center for the Humanities wing of the Armour Academic Center.

Ben Mandell was the first Sixth Former to perform, providing a powerful recitation of Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be” soliloquy that captivated the entire form, bringing them to a rousing round of applause. Mandell was followed by Tyler Papa, Mark Swank, Noel deCordova, and Zack Curcio who played three songs they had written and recorded, which paralleled three different scenes from Hamlet and used Shakespeare’s language for the lyrics. The highlight of this recording was their “Final Showdown” in which each instrument represented one of the characters who died in the final scene, with the instrument dying out as the character died, and the song gradually moving toward Hamlet’s final line, “the rest is silence.” Then Vladimir Bok ’10 gave a PowerPoint presentation entitled “A Mousetrap” in which he made the argument that the play suggests that humans are not in control of their destinies. After providing plenty of evidence from the play for this bleak thesis, Bok then ended on a more optimistic note, pointing out the hope that Hamlet provides through his attempt to free himself, almost literally rebelling against Shakespeare, his own creator in trying to break out of his own play and write the script of his own life.

Six groups of students created films (available on YouTube); most notable of the bunch was a black and white, silent film created by Ian Griffith, James Magum, and James Clarke. The film, shot in the school’s chapel, with original music composed and played by Griffith, depicted the scene is which Claudius unsuccessfully attempts to ask for forgiveness for his wicked deeds, and Hamlet, after much internal debate, decides not to kill him. The cinematography was very impressive for a crew of amateur filmmakers as they manipulated the light streaming through the stain-glassed windows of the otherwise dark chapel, resulting in a number of beautiful and thought provoking shots.

Visual art submitted by students included drawings, paintings, three-dimensional installations, and a series of original photographs, each of which was accompanied by an artist’s statement explaining the work. Highlights included Maddie McPhee’s painting of a frozen Hamlet standing paralyzed with his sword drawn above Claudius on his knees attempting to pray. Two important passages are beautifully written next to each of the characters, and the most striking element of the painting is a bestial satyr in the lower left corner juxtaposed with an Old Testament image of a powerful God in the upper right. Not only do these two images reflect elements of the characters represented in the painting, but they also suggest man’s station somewhere between a beast and a God, a persistent theme in the play.

Another of the more interesting works of visual art was an installation done by Tiffany Liu and Tammie Moopenn that depicted a scene from the play on a platform in the shape of a heart with a sword through it. In addition to looking at the scene as a whole, around the platform were a number of viewing portals through which the viewer could look at the scene from a different angle or from the point of view of a different character, with each view providing a unique perspective on the events of the play.

These are examples of some of the best work done, and while not all students were as successful, even those who did not achieve their desired result had an experience that allowed them to experiment with different skills and potentially learn something about themselves and their abilities. Additional benefits of the public element of these alternative assessment options were that 1.) the authenticity of the task in some cases may have raised the bar in terms of student effort; 2.) the display of art created a buzz for underform students who were able to view the work of the Sixth Form; and 3.) the various projects made for a more memorable and potentially stronger educational experience for the entire form, who were able to learn not only from their teachers, but also from the ideas of their classmates.

While writing remains one of the essential skills addressed by the English curriculum, the students write so often over the course of the year, that the alternative assessment options provided during this unit do not minimize the importance of writing in the curriculum, but simply provide the students with one opportunity to use other talents to showcase their reading and thinking skills. Overall, much of the success of this assessment can be attributed to the simple fact that students were given a choice, and perhaps even many of the essays that were written were better than they otherwise would have been since, on a certain level, the students chose to write them.