Macbeth, by William Shakespeare
Essential Questions
For semester 2, we will be concentrating on a number of essential questions, including these:
What is evil? Is evil inborn, or is it a result of bad decisions?
What causes a person to make a decision s/he knows to be evil?
Are women naturally more gentle and nurturing than men?
Are we fated to perform the important actions of our lives, or are our lives the result of our choices alone?
For semester 2, we will be concentrating on a number of essential questions, including these:
What is evil? Is evil inborn, or is it a result of bad decisions?
What causes a person to make a decision s/he knows to be evil?
Are women naturally more gentle and nurturing than men?
Are we fated to perform the important actions of our lives, or are our lives the result of our choices alone?
Major Text: William Shakespeare's Macbeth
One of Shakespeare's shortest and most accessible plays, Macbeth is a fascinating exploration of power and gender, evil and ambition, revenge and justice.
Text of the Play: The Folger Digital edition allows you to download this and print it out in five different versions. Scroll down to Macbeth and choose your favorite format.
Prereading Questions: Macbeth
These questions will be asked in class. You will be expected, generally speaking, to construct answers of about 1/2 page with examples of why you think so. The examples should use capital letters -- that is, you should refer to specific people, events, objects, dates, and other information to support your answer. Some questions are asked in order to clarify or give a "what-if" to a previous question. Not all questions may be formally assigned.
One of Shakespeare's shortest and most accessible plays, Macbeth is a fascinating exploration of power and gender, evil and ambition, revenge and justice.
Text of the Play: The Folger Digital edition allows you to download this and print it out in five different versions. Scroll down to Macbeth and choose your favorite format.
Prereading Questions: Macbeth
These questions will be asked in class. You will be expected, generally speaking, to construct answers of about 1/2 page with examples of why you think so. The examples should use capital letters -- that is, you should refer to specific people, events, objects, dates, and other information to support your answer. Some questions are asked in order to clarify or give a "what-if" to a previous question. Not all questions may be formally assigned.
- Does ambition cause people more harm than good?
- Should anything be allowed to come between you and your goals?
- Should conventional morality -- that is, people's usual sense of right and wrong in their culture -- stand in the way of achieving one's goals?
- Should we accept our destiny without a struggle, or should we try to alter our fates?
- Are some people born evil, or is evil the result of a series of bad decisions?
- Is evil caused by nature or by circumstance?
- Are women “naturally” more evil than men?
- Is redemption truly possible? That is, is it possible to commit an act of genuine evil and truly recover from it?
- Is it possible to admire or respect a person whom you know has committed acts of genuine evil?
- Do “the ends justify the means”? That is, if one uses morally evil methods to acquire a goal, is that goal forever tainted or polluted by the actions one has taken to achieve it?
Links to Discussion Questions
Macbeth Essay Directions Here Macbeth Essay #2 Directions Here: |
MacCredit!
LIFEHACK: Always go for the extra credit.
YOU MAY EARN UP TO 100 EXTRA CREDIT POINTS.
Directions:
1. Choose which level of extra credit you wish to do.
2. Follow the directions associated with your extra credit project.
________________________
LEVEL ONE = 15 points apiece
LEVEL TWO = 35 points apiece
LEVEL THREE = 50 points apiece
SPEECH LIST
DUO SCENES
LIFEHACK: Always go for the extra credit.
YOU MAY EARN UP TO 100 EXTRA CREDIT POINTS.
Directions:
1. Choose which level of extra credit you wish to do.
2. Follow the directions associated with your extra credit project.
________________________
LEVEL ONE = 15 points apiece
- Choose one of the speeches below.
- Scan it for iambic pentameter and medial caesurae.
- IN CLASS AFTER SCHOOL, “translate” the speech into everyday English without the use of the No Fear text.
LEVEL TWO = 35 points apiece
- Choose one of the speeches below. If you worked with this speech for a Level One activity, you may work with the same speech for this activity also.
- Memorize it.
- Come in after school. I will give you a blank piece of paper and you will write it out from memory.
LEVEL THREE = 50 points apiece
- Choose one of the speeches or scenes below. If you worked with this speech for Level One or Two, you may work with this same speech for this activity also.
- Memorize it.
- EITHER film it and submit it to me electronically OR perform it in front of the class.
- NOTE: I will give extra extra credit for especially effective use of film techniques, cinematography, props, music, etc. In short, if you make something that really looks like a movie rather than something that looks like it was filmed in your living room, I’ll be filled with joy and enthusiasm. Maybe you can parlay this into extra credit for video production or theater as well. :D
SPEECH LIST
- Note: Please feel free to choose whatever speech you want to work with regardless of whether you match the character’s gender.
- Macbeth: From “Is this a dagger…” to “…or to Hell.”
- Lady Macbeth: “The raven is hoarse…” “…hold, hold.”
- Lady Macbeth: “Out, damned spot…” to “…to bed, to bed, to bed.”
- Macbeth: From, “She should have died hereafter…” to “…signifying nothing.”
DUO SCENES
- Macbeth and Lady Macbeth: From “How now! What news?...” to “…and we’ll not fail.” (I.vii)
- Macbeth and Lady Macbeth: From “That which hath made them drunk…” to “…Who was it that thus cried?”
- Macbeth and Lady Macbeth: From “Sit, worthy friends…” to “…This is more strange /Than such a murder is.”
- Witches: From “Thrice the brinded cat…” to “…then the charm is firm and good.”
- Macbeth and Macduff: From “Turn, hell-hound, turn!...” to “…hold, enough.”