DAY 1 - CYCLE 7 - SEMESTER 2

Today, we finished Act IV, scene iii of Macbeth and watched the scene. Many lines were excised from the televised performance. Why? What effect was the director seeking? Did the Malcolm and Macduff we saw match the characters we created in our minds? By comparing the series on TV to that in your mind's eye, you can develop a better understanding of the text.

Here is all of scene iii, but it begins at the end of scene ii:

PART I




PART II



HOMEWORK
Read up through page 144 in Lord of the Flies. You will have a 20 question quiz on Monday covering the novel and Acts III and IV of the play. The quiz will include quotations and literary terms from both Acts. Those of you who have not made a meaningful contribution to the wikispace really ought to do so!

DAY 5 - CYCLE 6 - SEMESTER 2

Sorry for the late posting, everyone. I just got back from a series of late appointments.

Today, after I collected your paragraphs comparing the two witches scenes, we covered Act III, scene iii, a longer scene in which Macduff comes to England to solicit Malcolm's help in overthrowing Macbeth. We began the day by talking a bit about the dicey diplomatic situation in which these characters find themselves. There is a certain amount of distrust between the two, and until it is resolved, no progress can be made. Malcolm, fearing for his own safety, must make doubly sure that Macduff poses no threat, and he goes about it in a most interesting way.

To make sure you came away from the discussion with a full arsenal of understanding, make sure you can answer the following:

1. Macduff's opening lines are an example of dramatic irony: how?
   
2. Malcolm reveals the source of his distrust of Macduff. What led him to doubt his kinsman's intentions?
3. According to Malcolm, why would he be a worse ruler than Macbeth?
4. Is this true?
5. Why does he tell Macduff these things?
6. How does Macduff prove he can be trusted?
7. Who is the messenger who arrives?
8. List all the news the messenger brings
9. When does the messenger change the subject? Why?
10. There are a number of clues in the text of this scene that suggest how other characters must be speaking (pausing, rushing, showing some sort of emotion, etc.). Pay attention to these clues for they make it much easier to visualize what is happening.
11. NOTE: Notions of masculinity have been explored throughout this play. How does Macduff add to our understanding of that theme?

Whatever part of the scene we did not finish in class, we will read tomorrow, and then watch the scene performed.

HOMEWORK
Post 4 important quotes and 2 examples of literary terms from Act IV on the wikispace.

DAY 4 - CYCLE 6 - SEMESTER 2

PART ONE: THE QUIZ AT THE BEGINNING
Today, you took a 10 question quiz on Lord of the Flies, Macbeth and literary terms. So far, the scores for those quizzes range from 2 out of 10 to 10 out of 10. Some people's errors were concentrated; other people's were spread out. If you know you struggled on any portion of the quiz, take a look at these possible solutions. If these don't work, you should schedule time to see me.

Lord of the Flies

• Keep a character list in the front of your book and track major actions and dominant character traits.
• Set up your own spectrums: each character starts as WHAT and is becoming more WHAT?
• At the bottom of the pages where you see major events happening/critical moments of tension occurring, write a few key words and the names of the characters involved. This will help in review.
• When you come across particularly revealing quotes, highlight them.
• Create your own quotation study guide with your findings.

Macbeth Quotations

• Review the wikispace on a regular basis, adding to it as well.
• Preview scenes the day before class so that you have familiarity with the words, even if you don’t understand them well.
• Identify the words you don’t know and look them up.
• Paraphrase passages in class into your own words as we cover them and afterwards.
• Each night, go through the scenes we have covered, highlighter in hand, and highlight the quotes you think are particularly revealing.
• Review the blog consistently and make sure you can answer the review questions that are posted there.
• Try to relate quotations to larger themes (great chain of being, forcing the wheel of fortune, etc.). Think about what Shakespeare considered a virtue and what he considered a vice; use your studies of the early Enlightenment to inform your thinking. What quotes reveal these moral lessons?

Macbeth Literary Terms

• Review the wikispace regularly and add to it.
• Make note cards of the terms, their definitions, and examples that you can understand easily.
• At the end of class, spend a few minutes going through what we studied in class, and look for examples of terms. Underline them in the text and write the name of the term next to it.
• When looking at the wikispace, be able to explain why a certain passage exemplifies a term. If you can’t explain it in your own words, your understanding of the term is not yet complete.
  
  When the solutions above are not yielding the results you’d like to see, schedule extra help with me.

PART TWO: THE READING OF ACT IV; SCENES i AND ii
Then we read Act IV, scenes i and ii. Here, Macbeth, tormented by the fear and paranoia that consumes him and robs him of rest, goes to consult the witches. There, they show him four images, which lead him through a series of emotions. At the end of the scene, he makes a plan about Macduff & family. The second scene takes place at the Macduff castle in Fife, where Lady Macduff is none too pleased. In her conversations with Ross, we learn quite a bit about the political climate of Scotland under Macbeth.

REVIEW QUESTIONS: if you cannot answer these, you need to go back to your text and clarify your understanding.

1. What do the ingredients of the witches' brew tell us about them?
2. What cost is Macbeth willing to pay to get answers from the weird sisters?
3. What are the four apparitions that Macbeth sees? Know exactly what they are.
4. What exactly does each apparation tell him?
5. What is his emotional response to each of the apparitions?
6. What does Macbeth decide he will do after he hears the second apparition? Why?
7. What does he learn after the witches disappear?
8. What does he decide to do in response to this news?
9. What is Macbeth saying when he states "From this moment/The very firstlins of my heart shall be/The firstlings of my hand"?
10. Why is Lady Macduff so angry at her husband?
11. What is Ross trying to tell her in a thinly veiled way?
12. What does the conversation Lady Macduff has with her son reveal about the political climate in Scotland?
13. What has the messenger come to say?
14. NOTE: In the opening of the scene, Ross tells Lady Macduff that "Cruel are the times when we are traitors/And do not know ourselves" (IV, i, 18-19). At the end of the scene, Lady Macduff says, "I remember now/I am in this earthly world, where to do harm/Is often laudable, to do good sometime/Accounted dangerous folly." First, make sure you understand how these quotes show the world in opposition with itself. Then, consider: how might this relate to our larger understanding of the natural order of things, and of the play's larger theme about appearance and reality?

HOMEWORK

Write a paragraph comparing Macbeth's meeting with the witches from the first act with his meeting in the fourth act. Exactly how has Macbeth changed? Give specific details in your paragraph, incorporating quotes. This may be hand-written or typed, and should be about a page in length.

DAY 3 - CYCLE 6 - SEMESTER 2

After I collected your creative journals, I designated today as a reading day in preparation for tomorrow's BRIEF quiz which will contain:

• 5 multiple choice questions on Lord of the Flies;
• 3 quote identifications on Macbeth, Act II;
• 2 literary terms identifications on Macbeth, Act II.

Your homework for tonight is to add 4 important quotes for Act III to the wikispace, and 2 examples of literary terms in action. Don't go for monologue/solilioquy. Go for the more complicated ones that involve more interpretive skills to discern, OK?

DAY 2 - CYCLE 6 - SEMESTER 2

Today, we watched the remainder of Act III of Macbeth. We saw two versions of the banquet scene.



and



There's another version that's quite different. Roman Polanki's shows the ghost and shifts the order of the lines dramatically. To good effect? You decide.



You should have a good understanding of Lennox's sarcasm in scene vi and know what Macduff has gone to do.

HOMEWORK
First, choose one of the following:
A. Design a costume for Macbeth in the banquet scene that captures the essence of his character and suggests what's going on in his mind. You may use design elements from ANY era. Give a written explanation for your choices (a few sentences will do). You may draw the costume or write up a description of it.
OR
B. Design a set for any scene in Act II that calls attention to the themes of that scene. You may use design elements from ANY era. You should explain in writing why your set is suitable to the play's themes (a few sentences will do). You may draw your set or provide a written description.

AND DO THE FOLLOWING
C. In writing, explain how YOU would direct the ghost sequence. How would you represent the ghost and why would you do it that way?

DAY 1 - CYCLE 6 - SEMESTER 2

Today, we read a "parallel" version of Act III, scenes i-iii. In these scenes, I asked, Macbeth plots the murder of Banquo and his son Fleance, and discusses some of his concerns with his wife. In scene three, the murderers kill Banquo, but Fleance escapes. I asked you to consider Macbeth's and Lady Macbeth's emotional states while we read, and the state of their relationship.

You should be able to answer the following questions about the first three scenes. If you cannot answer these, you need to review the material.

• What does Banquo suspect?
• For what does Macbeth ask Banquo to return that evening?
• Where is Banquo going?
• What news does Macbeth report about Malcom and Donalbain?
• Why doesn't Macbeth enjoy being king?
• What has been the cost for Macbeth in "helping" Banquo's descendents?
• What do the murderers blame Banquo for?
• How does Macbeth convince the murderers to murder Banquo? How do his arguments resemble Lady Macbeth's? HINT:Why does Macbeth spend time talking about dogs?
• What reason does Macbeth give for not killing Banquo himself?
• Why doesn't Lady Macbeth enjoy being queen?
• Lady Macbeth complains about what tendency that Macbeth has?
• Why does Macbeth envy Duncan?
• How do Lady Macbeth's and Macbeth's speeches resemble one another?
• Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth tell each other to do what?
• What is Macbeth's brain full of? Isn't that an incredible image for describing mental stress?!
• For some of the lines to make sense, you need to consider the listening character's facial expressions. Identify those lines and imagine the expressions.

We watched some of Ian McKellen/Judy Dench's Royal Shakespeare version of Macbeth in class. We shall watch the rest of Act III tomorrow.

HOMEWORK:

Preview the remainder of Act III. You should have a very firm handle on what happens in each scene, the identity of the characters involved, their emotional states, and some assumptions about what they think about one another.

DAY 5 - CYCLE 5 - SEMESTER 2

Today, we took a break from Macbeth today to discuss Lord of the Flies. We began the class with a 12 question quiz and then opened discussion on the novel with three basic prompts:

• Who GETS power? Why?
• Who WANTS power? Why?
• WHO DESERVES power? Why?

I asked you to take notes on the discussion and to substantiate claims with evidence. The three classes had quite different discussions, but ultimately arrived at some conclusions about power sharing and the perils inherent in establishing order in a group. Some classes got farther than others, connecting ideas in the book to their understanding of democracies, authoritarian regimes, oligarchies and republican (not the party) forms of government. Review your notes from today. Add to them. Jot a comment to this blog post, if so moved. Your insights are fantastic.

Each class investigated Piggy, Ralph and Jack's competencies, shortcomings, and challenges, and each class got around to talking about what the following items symbolize in a larger consideration of exercising power within a society:

• conch - rule of law, authority. Note that it has (through sound) the ability to call everyone together, but it can also be broken--it is fragile.
• fire--power. When controlled, it can be life-sustaining; when uncontrolled, it is a destructive force.
• glasses--Tekne, insight. Remember your studies of Greek history? This helpful tool is critical in establishing the infrastructure everyone relies on, and is a reflection of Piggy's intuitive understanding of what needs to be done (count the children, use the conch, recognize dangers, ask for names...).
• knife--militarism, violence, criminal element. Note that Jack is the one who carries the knife, who almost kills the pig, and who wants lots of rules so he may punish those who break them.
• little 'uns --society at large as well as its weaker members. Those in power are not only morally responsible for caring for them, they must do so effectively to maintain power.

There were a wide variety of questions that came up during the class:

• Why doesn't Jack kill the pig?
• What makes a person or a group "civilized?"
• Why are Piggy's suggestions dismissed, ignored, or criticized?
• What are deciding factors in the battle between civility and savagery? Are we predisposed toward one?
• What do our observations from today tell us about the nature of power?

After our discussion, I asked you to take a look at the three initial quotes again: in an ideal world, what would the answers to these be?

Tomorrow, we'll be heading back into Macbeth. Tomorrow and Friday, we'll be looking at a video performance of Act III.

HOMEWORK

Post FOUR important quotations and TWO literary terms on the appropriate pages on the wikispace. Be sure to study the literary terms closely. The majority of you need some review on those!

Group 2: Quotes Lit Terms

Group 4: Quotes Lit Terms

Group 6: Quotes Lit Terms