The Descent into Madness:
A Comprehensive Examination of The Tragic Hero
Focus Texts: Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, T.S. Elliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” Arthur Miller’s “Tragedy and the Common Man,” and Robert Warshow’s “The Gangster as Tragic Hero”
Essential Questions:
1. How do multiple authors examine the Aristotelean tragic hero?
2. How does an “anti-hero” descend into madness as exemplified in various genres?
A. Opening Assignment: Notecard
On the provided notecard, respond to the following prompt.
Write about a time when you discovered that someone was purposefully plotting against you for some reason. Explain the situation—how you felt, how it turned out.
B. Continue reading Act I of Hamlet.
C. Closing: Discuss our reading thus far.
A Comprehensive Examination of The Tragic Hero
Focus Texts: Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, T.S. Elliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” Arthur Miller’s “Tragedy and the Common Man,” and Robert Warshow’s “The Gangster as Tragic Hero”
Essential Questions:
1. How do multiple authors examine the Aristotelean tragic hero?
2. How does an “anti-hero” descend into madness as exemplified in various genres?
A. Opening Assignment: Notecard
On the provided notecard, respond to the following prompt.
Write about a time when you discovered that someone was purposefully plotting against you for some reason. Explain the situation—how you felt, how it turned out.
B. Continue reading Act I of Hamlet.
C. Closing: Discuss our reading thus far.