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"Confusion now hath made his masterpiece"
Macbeth 7 - Macbeth doth Murder Sleep - Act 2 reading and discussion finishes: Today we have only reading the play aloud and discussing - no "up on your feet" activities. But the play - this section - holds so much, that there is more than enough to keep everyone's interest. Macbeth does the deed - murders Duncan - and his wife tries to calm him down - and there are some very important lines - that like the murder will come back to haunt and show their import later. There will be a link to the blank scripts (at the Folger Shakespeare Library). There will be those same pages with my notes on them - what I look at when we have a class reading (discussion). There will be - on these web pages - in my lesson description, Five Points in Today's Reading - this will reiterate 5 points that are in my play notes (which I hope you can read) in an intelligiable, more explicated way. There will also be an audio recording of one of my classes having that day's reading and discussion.
Lesson Overview - Macbeth doth murder sleep - Macbeth Act 2 in-class reading finishes
Lesson Overview - Macbeth doth murder sleep - Macbeth Act 2 in-class reading finishes
The Quiz: Students will be quizzed on Act 2 at the very beginning of the class period. Because this reading is longer - as well as very important, it will count for 200 points (most reading quizzes are 100 points). The great thing about this quiz is that we've already gone over (including watching) at least one of the scenes - when the students did the "Is this the Text I See Before Me" activity and the reading after that. This should give them a good grounding. It is also interesting to see how they do on the questions based on parts we've already done in class - versus the ones they've just done at home.
Reading through the play in class. See my page on Reading Plays Aloud in Class for more on this. Every student will read - and as they do their reading - you will stop them (hopefully at the completion of a line) and ask questions or point things out (questions are better). You also need to announce (probably every day) that they may also raise a hand if they are confused, have a question, or want to point something out. This last one may be especially true given that they read it on their own and taken notes on the reading. ADVISE (AGAIN PROBABLY EVERY DAY) THE STUDENTS TO USE A DIFFERENT COLOR PEN (OR PENCIL) TO TAKE NOTES IN CLASS - SO THEY CAN SEE WHAT THEY CAME UP WITH VERSUS WHAT THE CLASS CAME UP WITH (this is an invaluable idea - that actually came from a student a long time ago in my class).
Today's Play-Reading Agenda (this is for a 50 minute period):
Finish Act II , beginning with Scene 2
Important Takeaways (there are SO many more important things to point out - mainly through asking - see my Notes on today's reading for more). REMEMBER: Have students see these points for themselves by asking questions to get at these.
Act II Scene 2, line 1 - Notice she uses the "drunk" metaphor - which she used earlier "Was the hope drunk..."
line 5 - THIS IS HUGE - She mentions the owl's shriek - Macbeth later will in line 20 mention the same noise - THEN in Act IV - Macbeth will be talking about how he used to be "before" - and he will mention that very same shriek. And of course it is SO COOL because we in the audience heard it when it was first referenced.
line 48 - Macbeth murders sleep - make sure the students get the implications - it's important not only for this scene - but of course, without knowing it - he is also murdering Lady Macbeth's sleep as well (don't say anything on that yet!)
line 69 - As she tries to convince him - the sleeping and the dead are but as pictures - a metaphor that has appeared before and will again.
Scene 3 - the Porter scene. One of the VERY few times that I read as a teacher. The lines are way too risque to have a student read them. How far you explain or don't is up to you - you know your students best - just always be appropriate. Make sure you talk about "Equivocate" - what it means - it is the soul of this play. I do tell the story from one of the Pink Panther movies that I think gives the best example of Equivocation ever. Inspector Clouseau asks the hotel concierge if his dog bites. The man says "No". Clouseau goes to pet the dog and gets his hand nearly bit off. He angrily says: "I thought your dog does not bite!". The concierge answers: "That is not my dog."
line 88 - sleep as death's counterfeit - again that metaphor (also foul is fair, etc.)
line 147 - Lady Macbeth faking it to get the attention away from the murder and her husband
line 165 -"There's daggers in men's smiles" - we foreshadowed that way back in the Celtic Poetry lesson and the Stanzas of the Graves. Students LOVE connections and may even remember this without prompting.
Scene 4, line 53 - the clothes metaphor for deeds (the 5th time)
REMEMBER - There are so many important details that can be found in my script notes below
Remind students of what the next reading is and when it is due - and to follow their bookmarks.
Most Recent Test for the Reading - Act 2
Most Recent Test for the Reading - Act 2
I call these tests (rather than quizzes) because they require more time (and with notetaking - effort) than the usual reading assignment - so I want to reward that effort with more points. It's so important to quiz (see my page on Quizzing) - if the class doesn't read first - a great opportunity is lost - for the students to discover on their own - to question on their own - before it is talked about in the entire class.
The Folger Script for today's reading.
The Folger Script for today's reading.
Please note that the Folger Online Edition of Macbeth will have the same corresponding page & line numbers that I reference. Also, the script is available to download from them as a PDF, Microsoft Doc, and with or without line numbers. My students had their own copies (which I strongly recommend) that they could take notes directly in - and which have so many valuable footnotes on the left side of the page. See my handout on Reading Shakespeare in my opening Macbeth Lesson.
This is my script - my "promptbook" if you will - that I follow while we do our in class reading. Please see the page on Reading Plays Aloud in Class. The page numbering, pagination, and line number align with the Folger Edition above. There are notes that should prompt discussion (of course you will have your own as well) - but very often it doesn't go much beyond an underline or a word or two. I have included in the Lesson Overview above Five Important points in that day's reading.
Macbeth_day_4_finish_act_2_per_4.oggClass Recordings
Class Recordings
Audio - a recording of today's reading and discussion of the play.
Audio - a recording of today's reading and discussion of the play.
A recording of the students reading the play and the questions, answers, and discussion that ensues. We continue reading Act II (from after "Is this a dagger that I see before me," until the end of the Act. We discuss the murder, clear up some timing problems, note some very cool owl noises - and Mr. Scotese tells a story about not being able to get stains out so easily.
Pink Panther Equivocation scene
Pink Panther Equivocation scene
Make sure you talk about "Equivocate" - what it means - it is the soul of this play. I do tell the story from one of the Pink Panther movies that I think gives the best example of Equivocation ever. Inspector Clouseau asks the hotel concierge if his dog bites. The man says "No". Clouseau goes to pet the dog and gets his hand nearly bit off. He angrily says: "I thought your dog does not bite!". The concierge answers: "That is not my dog."
Remote Teaching
Remote Teaching
See my page on Reading Aloud in Class. We did these lessons with students reading remotely - very successfully.
The Folger Library has an online edition of the play without the annotations - Shakespeare words (what appears on the right hand page in the paperback edition. It also includes in this online edition the very useful synopses that appear before each scene.
Here is the description from Amazon: "This volume of the Shakespeare Set Free series is written by institute faculty and participants, and includes the latest developments in recent scholarship. It bristles with the energy created by teaching and learning Shakespeare from the text and through active performance, and reflects the experience, wisdom, and wit of real classroom teachers in schools and colleges throughout the United States. "
Macbeth 8 - Things Bad Begun - Act 3 reading and discussion: We will end up skipping a lot of the play for our class readings because they will be covered by the students in small groups (and in one case - because Shakespeare didn't actually write most of one scene). But we will read aloud the first three scenes from Act 3 and discuss them. We won't read what follows: the Banquet scene because the students will be doing a very close dive when they make their Prompt Books for the Scene (about two lessons hence).
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Thoughts on the Lesson
Thoughts on the Lesson
The little detail about Lady Macbeth hearing the owl - and at the same time Macbeth hears the same screech is really so important - so Shakespeare. Because we are present as an audience - we feel a bit of "dramatic irony" being in on something. And then - when the later Macbeth - the evil being transformed - mentions that he can't believe he used to be scared at the sound of an owl - we buy it - because we were there!
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