This worksheet challenges high school readers to go beyond basic comprehension and practice close reading analysis skills while engaging with Act 1.1 of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Whether assigned as independent homework or a collaborative classroom activity, this formative assessment promotes learning accountability and prepares students for the rigors of advanced placement classes. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.

By engaging with this close reading analysis activity, students will:

• Determine the meaning of unfamiliar words or phrases as they are used in Shakespearean text (e.g., unfold, approve our eyes)
• Interpret figurative and connotative meanings of words and phrases to clarify the tone or mood of a passage
• Support analysis of tone with textual evidence from specific lines
• Distinguish between true and false statements about a scene based on textual evidence.
• Infer a character’s motivation or purpose using details from the text
• Recognize and explain examples of irony and foreshadowing within the scene
• Explain how a character changes over the course of a passage
• Explain how beliefs from Shakespeare’s time influence the interpretation of key events (e.g., the connection between a ruler’s well-being and a nation’s fate)
• Consider themes about control, fear, and duty