ATAR Notes: Forum
VCE Stuff => VCE English Studies => VCE Subjects + Help => VCE English & EAL => Topic started by: WhoTookMyUsername on September 16, 2012, 12:56:05 pm
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I've been looking around on the interwebs to try and find critical essays / criticisms on the King Henry IV Part 1 play, but with little success so far,
For people who've studied previous Shakespearean texts for VCE, or are indeed studying 1H4 ATM, where are good places to look for quality criticisms?
I've read the study guides such as neap, york notes, insight etc. but am trying to find other perspectives / more in depth perspectives on 1H4, which i'm doing for end of year exams.
Anywhere on the internet i haven't managed to find? The best critics? Should i go to State and spend a day there on the holidays? Where to look for the most relevant criticisms, especially from the most respected writers such as WH Auden?
Thanks :)
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If you go into the MHS library and look in the Shakespeare section. You will find either or both of:
a) (an) entire book(s) of criticism dedicated to 1H4. (If you are lucky, note that this definitely applies to Hamlet, lol)
b) A series of books called something like 'Shakespeare Survey' or something (think there are like 30 of them, all numbered), look through the indexes of every one of these to see if there are any essays relating to 1H4.
Be warned that some of the essays may be really esoteric, or not all that useful in a SAC situation (e.g. a 30 page essay on Falstaff). It is a good idea to skim read each essay first to see whether it is likely to be helpful or relevant.
Note that I don't think MHS lets you guys borrow any of these books and take them home. So you will probably have to be efficient about your note-taking.
*Another thing you can do is look at all the copies of 1H4 the library has, and read through each of the introductions. Since the introductions are written by professional critics there is usually some good stuff in there.
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I also like this site (when I did Richard III), has heaps of info if you navigate via orange tabs http://www.shmoop.com/henry-iv-part-1/
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Do you know anyone who goes to uni?
If you go to this page, for example, for Monash Uni: http://search.lib.monash.edu/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?&vid=MUL&mode=Advanced
And then search for Shakespeare Henry IV, you can see how many thousands of respected journal articles and books there are (many are thoroughly accessible, and simply go into more detail than you would need to). The problem is, to access the full-text online versions you need a student login.