Teacher Reflection on the Unit
6. Prior Knowledge of This Play
Have you read, acted in, or seen the playMacbethbefore? If so, use the space below to list the plot events that you remember and as much information as you can about characters, themes, and other relevant background.
What’s This Play About???
1. With your group, read aloud the 10 quotations fromMacbethlisted below. Discuss what each quotation might mean in modern English.
“Fair is foul and foul is fair.” “Out, damned spot!”
“And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths.”
“Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.”
“Stars, hide your fires:
Let not light see my black and deep desires.”
“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow Creeps in this petty pace from day to day.”
“If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well It were done quickly.”
“Is this a dagger I see before me, The handle toward my hand?”
“False face must hide what the false heart doth know.” “Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep!”
2. Create a scene of 10 minutes or less that incorporates as many of these lines as possible and predicts the plot ofMacbeth.Your scene should create a logical plot structure using one or more of the unit understandings listed below. In other words, create a scene where the conflict is based on one of these “truths.” You may use cue cards or memorize the lines.
Unit Understandings
A. Individual goals can conflict with societal goals.
B. Individuals make choices in an attempt to meet one or more needs: love and belonging, freedom, fun, and power.
C. Certain individuals can change the course of a society’s history.
D. An individual’s power is often bounded by society.
“Double-Journaling” in Your Director’s Notebook
Here is an overview of the double-journal format, along with some suggestions about different kinds of notes to take and ways to comment on them.
TEXT ANALYSIS
Copy a passage from the play and note its speaker and the act, scene, and line number(s).
Complete at least two of the following suggestions for every entry:
• Paraphrase the text for basic understanding.
• Identify a reaction to the text that relates personal associations, memories, and emotions.
• Ask questions.
• Agree or disagree with a character’s choices.
• Compare or contrast the passage with another passage or another work of literature.
• Make a prediction about what will happen next based on reading already accomplished.
• Identify the theme of the passage.
• Explain how the passage relates to one of our unit generalizations.
• Explain and interpret figurative language and motif as a representation of theme.
Themes to Track
• Individual goals can conflict with societal goals.
• Individuals make choices in an attempt to meet one or more needs: love and belonging, freedom, fun, and power.
• Citizens of the 21st century tend to attribute an individual’s progress within a society to a combination of his or her personal choices and coincidence/providence.
• Certain individuals can change the course of a society’s history.
• An individual’s power is often bounded by society.
Motifs to Track
A motif is a physical element (such as blood) or some other image or idea that, in itself, does not have any partic- ular meaning or represent any higher truth; it just is. However, when an author uses this element repeatedly in various places within a literary work, a reader can begin to draw conclusions about a higher truth or meaning.
Here are some motifs that appear inMacbeth:
witchcraft blood
battles/violence
heaven sleep
clothing/armor
weather/nature animals spirits/ghosts
the soul light and dark male and female lineage/genealogy
Making Sense of Shakespeare
Directions:After completing your nightly reading assignment, respond to your assigned analysis questions. Use complete sentences, and be sure to include the pages of your reading assignment and which questions you are responding to (e.g., P1, for Plot Analysis, question 1; C5 for Character Analysis, question 5, and so on ). When you have finished, choose one passage from your nightly reading to include in your double-entry journal. For a format refresher, refer to the Organizer for the Director’s Notebook.
Plot Analysis
1. Make a short list of the main events of the plot. What happens to whom? When? Where? Which event seems to be the most important?
2. Pose questions about the main events/actions in the plot. Does anything intrigue or confuse you?
3. Relate the scene to other situations in the play. Does it further the action? Retard the action? Repeat a situa- tion? Mirror a situation? Provide its opposite?
4. What background and historical material helps with understanding the plot? Feel free to consult both the text notes and non-study–guide Web sites. Try these:
www.shakespeare.com/faq/faq38.php www.encyclopedia.com/html/G/Gunpowde.asp www.gunpowder-plot.org/news/1998_04/macbeth.htm www.bard.org/Education/Shakespeare/macbethfair.html
Character Analysis
1. Pick a character of interest to you and summarize the key actions that best illustrate his or her personality.
2. What is your chosen character’s desire? Why is it important to this character?
3. What plans and behaviors does your character use to achieve his or her desire?
4. What are the obstacles to the character achieving his or her desire?
5. What are the results of the character’s behaviors?
6. How does the character interact with others? How do others see him or her?
Language Analysis
1. Pick a scene to analyze. Are there any words or phrases that are not defined in the footnotes? What sense can you make of them from the context? Look up these words and phrases and record the definitions.
2. What themes and significance are you noting in this scene? To defend your claims, identify common figures of speech (simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole) and other text features, such as alliteration, paradox, or irony. For each, note (a) the timing of the usage, (b) the speaker of the phrase, and (c) the connotations of the images created.
3. Find a passage of 5 to 10 lines that is particularly interesting to you and scan it. Is it in iambic pentameter or in another type of meter? What words are emphasized? Why are they important in this scene?