Greetings D Block English students. Over the course of the next few weeks we will be reading the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare. During this time you will be required to post responses based on your interpretation of the text.
Blog Post Rules:
1. No inappropriate language.
2. Make sure to identify yourself so that you get homework credit for your post.
3. You may not repeat an option once you have submitted a post.
4. Extra Credit on your vocabulary average (2 quiz points) each time you use a vocabulary word correctly when posting your response.
5. Extra credit on your homework average if you include an image which relates to your response.
Reader Response Options:
1. Characters and characterization - Comments concerning the major characters and choral characters in which one analyzes the creation (by means of speech, action, and gesture) of a sense of the moral, intellectual, and emotional qualities of the character. These comments will be based on your sense of how the character is identified and how the character is developing in the scene. This is a chance for you to also consider your personal connection to the character.
2. Setting & Location - The setting is where the story takes place and location of the action for the characters. Therefore, comments regarding this option should focus on how the location affects the tone of the story and mood for the audience. How does the location and setting help to develop the story. In this section, identify the specific locations by name, description and purpose.
3. Symbols and Imagery - William Shakespeare is a true craftsman when it comes to influencing the story with symbols and imagery. Identify specific symbols and provide your interpretation. You may also identify lines from the play in which the imagery has an effect on the tone, mood or characterization on the figures involved.
4. External and Internal Conflict - No tragic play would be complete without some serious conflict. Identify the conflicts faced by the characters in this play. There will be a large variety to choose from. You can discuss the conflict on a personal level and provide possible resolutions. You can also consider the causes of the conflict and the effects of the conflict on the the story.
5. Stages of the Hero Journey - Identify any of the 12 stages of the hero journey and explain how Joseph Campell's paradigm applies to the play.
6. Motifs - A motif is a recurring symbol, object, phrase, or action that repeats to emphasize a specific theme in a story. As the play progresses you will begin to notice a number of motifs developing. Pay close attention to them as you will eventually do a group presentation concerning one of them. Identify a motif, explain where it appears in no less than two places in the play, and discuss its purpose.
7. Language Appreciation & Interpretation - For this option, you may show your appreciation for Shakespeare's craftsmanship. Provide a line that moved you as a reader, provide the context and interpret it. Make an attempt to interpret the line even if you think you do not understand the line entirely. It may start a provocative discussion in class. You may simply like the way the line sounds. Tell us about it. The line may remind you of something entirely separate from the play. Tell us about it. Be brave and interact with this play.
8. Reaction to Peer Post - For this option, you will have the opportunity to react to a post made by one of your classmates. Maybe you agree with them and they stole your "thunder" but you have something to add to their commentary. Maybe you disagree and you would like to debate or clarify. Either way, interacting with your classmates on this blog is a bonus.
2. Setting & Location
ReplyDeleteThe play is set in Scotland only - from what we know so far. The location provides us with a stereotypical view on the people of the time and Scotland adds to that image. The men all wear kilts to battles, and only the noble, high-ranking men wear suits of armor. They also have the accents of Englishmen and Scots; and have similiar views towards the monarchy that rules them as a whole.
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ReplyDelete4. External and Internal Conflict
ReplyDeleteThe witches start the conflict in MacBeth. They make predictions to MacBeth and Banquo that could bring more conflict to the play. MacBeth's conflict is that he wants to be king, but he can only see one way of that happening. To become king MacBeth thinks he would have to kill Duncan. This causes a conflict because MacBeth does not want to do this but he does want to be king. Further on in the play there could be conflict between Banquo and MacBeth. MacBeth was told that he will become king but that Banquo's children will be kings. This could result in conflict and a lack of trust between the two later on in the play.
hello
ReplyDeletehow come i posted but am not a contributor?
ReplyDelete5) Hero's Journey
ReplyDeleteWe learn about Macbeth's ordinary life right from the beginning. He is a strong and brutal warrior/fighter. He is unbeatable and never fears his own death in a battle. His call to adventure is presented when talking to the weird sisters. They predict that he will become king. This means that something must happen to King Duncan and Macbeth is afraid that he is going to kill him. This disrupts his ordinary life.
5. stages of the hero journey
ReplyDeletewe can start to see steps of the hero journey emerging in the play, with macbeth being the hero. for example, the call to adventure. macbeth is told by the witches that he will become thane of cawdor. macbeth wonders how, but he does. he does not believe the witches, but their saying becomes true. macbeth was fine being the thane of just the first place, i cannot remember the name, but once he is thane of cawdor, he starts to think of being king. and take the power for himself.
internal conflict
ReplyDeleteMacbeth faces an internal conflict between himself and his own beliefs right from the beginning of the play. The three witches tell him that he will be the new Thane of Cawdor, which he has a hard time believing due to the fact that there is currently one. When Macbeth is told that the king will be executed he immediately begins to doubt his disbelief in the witches' prophesy. He soon rethinks what the witches had told him and doesn't know whether to believe in the fate they had given him or not. This confusion Macbeth has is one of the internal conflicts he faces between himself and his own beliefs.
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ReplyDeleteSymbols and Imagery
ReplyDeleteThe symbols in the play Macbeth, play an important role. We see that whenever the three witches come out, there is always thunder and lighting going on in the background. The thunder and the lightning symbolizes that something bad is going to happen to someone in the play.
Motif:
ReplyDelete"Fair is foul, and foul is fair" so far is repeating through out the play. It has an important role in explaining how merciless actions are going to continue as the play excels in a positive manner. Macbeth finds his fate in the Wyrd sisters to be quite foul as he soon finds himself Thane of Cawdor, fulfilling the first witches prophecy. You can tell that Macbeth is going to act out in violent ways, tyranny may overcome him. He wants to push his way to be king, but the only way he can is if he murders Duncan. Although the equity in the play when the Thane of Cawdor betrays Norway, he is sacrificed. It's hard to tell what is foul or fair, or if there is any difference between the two at all. The maelstrom weather patterns when the witches appear also accompany the foul play predicting something bad will happen.
Picture of Fair and Foul Weather
Merry
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ReplyDeleteTo go along with what johh said about the hero journey we do see the call to adventure when the witches tell Macbeth he will be king. We also see refusal of the call when Macbeth doesn't believe the witches because there is already a Thane of Cawdor.There is also a king and Macbeth is scared that he will end up killing the king to take the throne.
ReplyDeleteMike L
One of the main motifs we have seen so far in Macbeth is a type of reoccuring phrase. It helps to characterize the witches because almost everytime they appear, they use an example of this motif. Opposites are used, almost like an oxymoron. 'Fair is foul and foul is fair" is spoken by the witches in the opening of the play which means essentially that nothing is as it seems and the good is actually bad while the bad is actually good (as described and explained in our movie references)this quote is reinforced by it's use in one of Macbeth's lines later in scene 3, when talking about both the victory and horror of the battle he has just endured. this backwards phrasing of words also occurs a few lines down in scene three when the witches are talking to Banquo "lesser than Macbeth, and greater" "not so happy, yet much happier". This motif allows us to distinguish the important information from the lines that will probably be useful in understanding the major themes of the play.
ReplyDelete