Wonder - Part Six: August

We read about William Shakespeare earlier in the year. We know he wrote poetry and plays in England in the 1500s and 1600s. Some of his most famous plays include Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, and MacBeth.

August's second part in the story, Part Six, begins with a quote from Hamlet:

"What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world!..."

When you break this down and look at each sentence, what are all the things Prince Hamlet  has to say about "a man." What does the quote say about people? About humanity? What does it mean to be "noble in reason" or "infinite in faculty" or to be like an angel in actions? (We won't spend time today discussing why Prince Hamlet was saying this and how he felt as he was speaking. We'll leave that for your future literature classes.)

Knowing how each part is introduced by a song or quote, and knowing that the songs and quotes refer to the narrator of that section, what does this Hamlet quote seem to tell us about Auggie? Maybe it says something about all the characters?

Continue to pages 205-234.