'Hamlet' revision podcast 4: the first soliloquy

Our 29th podcast is the fourth in a series looking at the play Hamlet leading up to the Leaving Certificate next month, and is a close examination of Hamlet's first soliloquy, 'O that this too too solid flesh...', putting the speech in its context and looking at how it expresses the character's deepest feelings about his mother.

At the bottom of this post is our Wordle slideshow of the soliloquies, with performances by famous actors, including Kenneth Branagh delivering this first one. More Hamlet resources are here.

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'Hamlet' revision podcast 3: the first scene

The first two podcasts in our annual Shakespeare revision series prior to the Leaving Certificate exams gathered together individual short talks on 10 characters in Hamlet - the first one was on 1) Fortinbras, 2) Horatio, 3) Laertes, 4) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, 5) Polonius; the second on 7) Ophelia, 8) The Player King, 9) Osric, 10) The First Gravedigger.

This podcast, our 28th overall, deals with the first scene in the play, a scene which sets a mood of uncertainty, and one which prefigures central themes of the play, such as the disruption of the natural order and revenge. 

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You can also listen to our podcasts via the 'widget' on the sidebar to the right, or by visiting our podcast page here (if you have iTunes on your computer you can also subscribe by clicking here, and so download our episodes to your MP3 player, or by searching for 'SCC English' in the iTunes Store).

4 more 'Hamlet' audioboos

Our 27th podcast gathers together the final four short 'audioboos' from our series 10 Characters from Hamlet, which deal with these characters: 7) Ophelia, 8) The Player King, 9) Osric, 10) The First Gravedigger. Click here for the first six characters - Horatio, Laertes, Fortinbras, Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

The series looks at the 'lesser' characters in the play, in five-minute chunks. Note that there is a brief gap between each talk.

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You can also listen to this podcast via the player on each post, or the 'widget' on the sidebar to the right, or by visiting our podcast page here (if you have iTunes on your computer you can also subscribe by clicking here, and so download our episodes to your MP3 player, or by searching for 'SCC English' in the iTunes Store).

Patterns of Poetry 9-15

Our 26th podcast brings together in one handy file seven more brief talks from the Patterns of Poetry series, which was runner-up in the 2010 Edublog Awards in the category 'Best Educational Use of Audio.' The talks are, in order: (9) Rhyme, (10) Repetition, (11) The Sonnet, (12) Punctuation, (13) Foreshadowing, (14) Metaphor, (15) Hyperbole. Note that there is a brief pause between each talk.

The first 8 talks are available in a single podcast here. 

        

   
   
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You can also listen to this podcast via the 'widget' on the sidebar to the right, or by visiting our podcast page here (if you have iTunes on your computer you can also subscribe by clicking here, and so download our episodes to your MP3 player, or by searching for 'SCC English' in the iTunes Store).

    

10 Characters from 'Hamlet'. 6: Polonius

In this 5-minute talk in our series on (relatively) minor characters in Hamlet, Polonius is considered - harmless old buffoon or head of the Danish Stasi?

Get our Audioboos as podcasts on iTunes here. Our Audioboo page is here. Listen to today's talk via the player below.

 

10 Characters from 'Hamlet': 4,5: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

The fourth and fifth characters in our series dealing with relatively minor characters in Hamlet are the inseparable Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the Laurel and Hardy of Elsinore Castle.

Get our Audioboos as podcasts on iTunes here. Our Audioboo page is here. Listen to today's talk via the player below.

10 Characters from 'Hamlet'. 3: Laertes

The subject of the third short podcast on characters from Hamlet is Laertes, another young man in the play who is a revenger, and who provides a useful foil to Hamlet in our understanding of the latter's situation and personality.

Get our Audioboos as podcasts on iTunes here. Our Audioboo page is here. Listen to today's talk via the player below.
 

10 Characters from 'Hamlet': 2. Horatio

The second of the 'audioboos' on characters in Hamlet looks at the hero's most loyal friend and supporter, Horatio, a man who 'is not passion's slave'.

Get our Audioboos as podcasts on iTunes here. Our Audioboo page is here. Listen to today's talk via the player below.
 

10 Characters from 'Hamlet': 1. Fortinbras

This 'audioboo' is the first of a series which will look at (relatively) minor characters in the play Hamlet. Later and longer revision podcasts will consider the main characters, including Hamlet himself.

Number 1 examines a character who hardly appears in the story, and who hardly says anything, and yet who has a crucial role: Fortinbras, Prince of Norway.

Get our Audioboos as podcasts on iTunes here. Our Audioboo page is here. Listen to today's talk via the player below.

Patterns of Poetry 13: foreshadowing

The 13th in the Patterns of Poetry series of talks of under five minutes is about foreshadowing, and uses John Keats's ode 'To Autumn'.

Get our Audioboos as podcasts on iTunes here. Our Audioboo page is here. The first 8 talks are available as a single podcast here. Listen to today's talk via the player below.

Patterns of Poetry 11: sonnet

The 11th Patterns of Poetry talk briefly considers the sonnet form, concentrating on Patrick Kavanagh's sonnet 'Epic'. Click here on the Poetry Archive site to read the poem, and listen to Kavanagh himself reading it out.

Get our Audioboos as podcasts on iTunes here. Our Audioboo page is here. The first 8 talks are available as a single podcast here. Listen to today's talk via the player below.

Patterns of Poetry 10: repetition

The 10th Patterns of Poetry short podcast deals with repetition in poetry, and how it can be a useful way into a poem, examining Elizabeth Bishop's 'The Fish' and Richard Murphy's 'Moonshine'.


Get our Audioboos as podcasts on iTunes here. Our Audioboo page is here. The first 8 talks are available as a single podcast here. Listen to today's talk via the player below.

Patterns of Poetry 9: rhyme

The 9th short talk on elements of poetry is on rhyme, and looks at how Thomas Kinsella uses it in his poem 'Mirror in February'.

Get our Audioboos as podcasts on iTunes here. Our Audioboo page is here. The first 8 talks are available as a single podcast here. Listen to today's talk via the player below.

First 8 Patterns of Poetry talks

Our 24th podcast puts together in one handy track the first eight Patterns of Poetry talks, originally published via Audioboo. The eight talks are all under 5 minutes each and are, in order: (1) Introduction, (2) Titles, (3) Alliteration, (4) Personification, (5) Symbols, (6) Onomatopoeia, (7) Cliché, (8) Simile. Note that there is a brief gap between each talk.

There is a full list of the series here. Listen to the podcast via the player below:

       

   
   
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You can also listen to this podcast via the player on each post, or the 'widget' on the sidebar to the right, or by visiting our podcast page here (if you have iTunes on your computer you can also subscribe by clicking here, and so download our episodes to your MP3 player, or by searching for 'SCC English' in the iTunes Store).

Patterns of Poetry 8: simile

Talk 8 in the Patterns of Poetry series is on simile, and looks at how Sylvia Plath uses it in her poem 'Morning Song'.

Get our Audioboos as podcasts on iTunes here. Our Audioboo page is here. Listen to today's talk via the player below.

The Patterns of Poetry 7: Cliché

The 7th talk in the Patterns of Poetry series looks at cliché, examining how Shakespeare in sonnet 130 and Carol Ann Duffy in 'Valentine' subvert such language.

Get our Audioboos as podcasts on iTunes here. Our Audioboo page is here. Listen to today's talk via the player below.

Patterns of Poetry 6: onomatopoeia

This is podcast 6 in the Patterns of Poetry series of short discussions of poetic techniques, and looks at onomatopoeia, examining Seamus Heaney's poem 'A Constable Calls', as well as 'Sunlight'.

Get our Audioboos as podcasts on iTunes here. Our Audioboo page is here. Listen to today's talk via the player below.

 

Patterns of Poetry 4: personification

The fourth in the Patterns of Poetry series is on personification. This one examines Patrick Kavanagh's 1934 poem 'Shancoduff'.

Get our Audioboos as podcasts on iTunes here. Our Audioboo page is here. Listen to today's talk via the player below.
 

King Lear revision podcast 3: Kent and Albany, two good guys

Our 20th podcast is the third in a series of revision sessions on King Lear, prior to the Leaving Certificate. This talk examines the role of two minor but important characters in the play, the Dukes of Kent and Albany, and how they affect the central story and its themes. Both are decent men; while Albany needs to travel on a path of moral development, Kent is the most clear-sighted and steadfast character in the play. In the end, however, their decency cannot prevent the tragedy.

Listen to the podcast via the player below:-

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You can also listen to our podcasts via the 'widget' on the sidebar to the right, or by visiting our podcast page here (if you have iTunes on your computer you can also subscribe by clicking here, and so download our episodes to your MP3 player, or by searching for 'SCC English' in the iTunes Store).

King Lear revision podcast 2: 'All's cheerless, dark and deadly'

Our 19th podcast is the second in a series of revision talks on King Lear, prior to the Leaving Certificate in early June. The first one examined Act I scene i. This second podcast looks at the extreme bleakness of Shakespeare's vision in the play, especially through its treatment of religion and the gods. The gods are often invoked in King Lear, and on the surface ancient Britain seems to be a highly religious society. But in fact there is no stage at which heaven seems to be active or effective. The play disabuses its audience of the notion that there is any benevolent power above which will protect us from ourselves.

Listen to the podcast via the player below:-

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You can also listen to our podcasts via the 'widget' on the sidebar to the right, or by visiting our podcast page here (if you have iTunes on your computer you can also subscribe by clicking here, and so download our episodes to your MP3 player, or by searching for 'SCC English' in the iTunes Store).