Homework #4 Macbeth--10 pts

How would you describe the attitude towards the supernatural in the play?
(Things to think about in your answer)--possible

*Is it taken seriously?
*Think of the tone and the diction of the witches?
*How about the 3 witches compared to Hecate?
*Look at your chart from class: Are they being straightforward? Meaning, does the supernatural help humans or does it confuse and trick them?
*Would audiences today take the witches more or less/as seriously as they did then?

Extra Credit: Look at your notes from day 1 Macbeth--why is it thought that Shakespeare added this element of the supernatural to the play?

Here is today's chart of the witches' predictions, etc.

Hw #3 Macbeth-- 10 pts.

Hw: *Explain any similarities you see between the characters in Macbeth, and the characters in “The Pardoner’s Tale” and/or A Simple Plan. Think about how and if they changed, their conflicts, actions, etc..Please give examples to support your answers.

*What dramatic irony do you remember from either "The Pardoner's Tale" or A Simple Plan and what effect did it have on the audience?

Verbal and Dramatic Irony

Verbal irony--the effect achieved when a speaker says that opposite of what he or she means

Dramatic irony--the effect achieved when the audience has information that a character(s) doesn't have.

While reading ACT III, Scene i, we will stop and assess the following line as both:

Line 27, Act 3: "Fail not our feast"

Verbal irony?:

Dramatic irony?:

Comic Relief

def.---a humorous scene, incident, or speech that is included in serious drama to provide a break from emotional intensity. Because it breaks the tension, it allows the audience to think about the plot events before, and prepare for emotional events after. The sharp contrasts provided by comic relief intensify the themes of the work.

With a partner......we will do some script writing---each person needs a script!

1. Decide between the two of you--who will be Macbeth, who will play Lady Macbeth.
2. Rewrite Act I, Scene 7 in modern English: Macbeth's soliloquy and the argument between the two of them that follows.
3. Make sure you hit all the main points of each passage
*In the soliloquy--Macbeth's pros and cons
*In the argument--what are Lady Macbeth's arguments for him to do it, what are his to not

Hw #2: Macbeth's Soliloquy

"I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps(overleaps) itself and fall on the other."--Macbeth (Act I, Scene 7, lines 25-28)

1)Put this sentence into your own words.(What is he trying to say?)
2)Why is it important for the audience to know this is a soliloquy? What if it were not?
3)Based on this quote, what can you predict MAY happen in Act II and WHY?

Characterization/Homework #1 Monday 11/21--- 20 pts.

In plays, characters are defined by their appearance, actions, and words. Examine Lady Macbeth:
1. What seems to motivate her?
2. Does Shakespeare describe her with a traditional feminine role/ideas/behavior?
3. How would the play be different if she did not exist or know about her husband's plans?
4. Do you think her way of pushing Macbeth to do something he may not have done otherwise is something that is common or uncommon of husbands and wives?