Act 3 of Henry V contains two speeches at Harfleur that give students a rich comparison. In the first, Henry urges his weary soldiers to charge the broken wall, using images of tigers and stiffened sinews. In the second, addressed to the governor of the town, he threatens rape, murder, and destruction if the city does not surrender. Essays that treat both speeches together tend to be the most interesting, but they also demand careful feedback.

Many students write only about the first speech because it is more familiar and more inspiring. Your feedback can encourage them to pair it with the ultimatum to the governor, which adds moral complexity to the picture of the king. A student who reads only the first speech may conclude that Henry is a stirring leader with no darker side. A student who reads both sees a ruler who can shift from encouragement to intimidation depending on his goal.

When grading, ask whether the student explains the audience of each speech. The first is directed at English soldiers, the second at French defenders, and the rhetoric is shaped accordingly. Essays that ignore this difference often make claims like "Henry uses violent language throughout the scene," which flattens two distinct strategies. Feedback should prompt students to name the audience before describing the technique.

Look at Imagery With Attention to Function

Both speeches are dense with imagery, including references to animals, war machines, and natural forces. Students often list the images without explaining why they are effective. A better approach is to ask what emotional response each image is designed to produce in its listeners. The tiger image, for example, encourages ferocity, while the images in the ultimatum evoke terror to make surrender look like the only sane option.

• Identifies the different audiences and goals of the two speeches
• Quotes specific images and explains what each is meant to make listeners feel
• Considers whether the ultimatum is a genuine threat, a bluff, or both
• Connects the scene to the wider question of Henry's moral responsibility
• Avoids summarizing the speeches without offering an interpretation

Encourage Students to Weigh Ethics Without Preaching

The ultimatum speech tempts students to condemn Henry in strong language, and some essays turn into moral lectures. Feedback can remind them that the task is to analyze how the play presents the threat and what it might want the audience to think. It is possible to argue that Henry is manipulating the governor with rhetoric that he never intends to carry out, or that the speech reveals the brutality that lies beneath his idealistic image. Both readings need textual support.

You can also point students toward the outcome of the scene, in which the governor surrenders and Henry orders mercy for the citizens. That detail complicates the ultimatum and allows for multiple interpretations. A student who includes it is engaging with the complete sequence of events instead of the most dramatic moment alone. This kind of completeness deserves recognition in the evidence category.

Give Sentence-Level Feedback on Quotations

Harfleur essays often include long quotations that overwhelm the student's own analysis. A useful piece of feedback is to suggest trimming quotations to a few key words and building the sentence around them. Instead of copying an entire six-line passage, the student can write that Henry compares his soldiers to "greyhounds in the slips," then explain why that image implies eagerness and restraint. Shorter quotations leave more room for interpretation.

Watch for quotation errors as well, since Early Modern spelling and punctuation vary across editions. Tell students which edition you expect them to use and how to cite act, scene, and line numbers. Consistent citation habits make essays easier to grade and help students practice the conventions of literary scholarship without turning citation into a source of unnecessary anxiety.

Turn Feedback Into a Revision Opportunity

The value of feedback grows when students have a chance to act on it. Consider allowing a short revision of one paragraph, focused on the weakest link identified in your comments. Students who rewrite a single paragraph with better explanation often make larger gains than students who receive a comment and never touch the essay again. The act of revising builds the skill you are trying to teach.

If revision time is limited, offer a checklist that students can use to self-assess before submitting the next essay. The checklist might ask whether each quotation is followed by at least two sentences of explanation and whether the paragraph names the speaker and audience. This turns your feedback into a lasting habit instead of a one-time correction.