Life of Pi and William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet

Application Using at least one of the core works studied this semester—Yann Martel’s novel Life of Pi and William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet—write a well-structured and fully developed essay (argumentative or persuasive) with a clearly stated thesis on whether you agree or disagree with one of the following quotations below. You must pick a stand on one side and include specific references to these works to support your ideas. Avoid mere summaries. Evaluation is based on content, analysis, grammar, and style. It is recommended you do an outline before you begin to ensure an organized essay. 1. “Life is the sum of your choices.” — Albert Camus, author Or 2. “Money is the most important thing in the world. It represents health, strength, honour, generosity, and beauty as conspicuously as the want of it represents illness, weakness, disgrace, meanness, and ugliness.” — George Bernard Shaw, playwright Or 3. Hamlet lacks faith in God and himself. Consquently he must define his existence in terms of others, e.g. I am the man whose mother married his uncle who murdered his father. He would like to become what the Greek tragic hero is, a creature of situation. Hence his inability to act, for he can only “act,” i.e., play at possibilities. - W.H. Auden