Wednesday, 25 November

Class began with sharing the illustrations of Shakespeare's imagery as assigned last class.

Next students consider the words: hand, blood, night, and sleep. Students made a list of connotations for each of the words then wrote and shared a story based around all four of them.

Each student then randomly choose one of the four words and was given the assignment posted at the end of this entry. Students will decide which Act they are responsible for next class.

The class then watched Act I of Macbeth Great Performances / Patrick Stewart production paying special attention to the use of the word that they have been assigned.

Tracing a Word in Macbeth

During the study of Macbeth, you will be responsible for keeping a “word journal” in which you identify how the meaning of specific word is shaped by the situation in which it is used and the character who uses it.

Starting at the beginning of the act you are assigned (II or III), find the word every time it appears. A concordance or computer program is a great help here, but if these are not available to you, reading the act and scanning for the word is fine. Each time you find the word, make an entry in your word journal. Your journal is due four school days after you have been assigned to complete an Act.  Due Date is two classes after the class has finished the act. Highlight your act and word at the bottom of this page.

Guidelines for Entries

1. Write out the passage that contains your word and give act, scene, and line numbers (e.g. 2.3.16-18 or II.iii.16-18). Record enough of the passage to make its meaning clear; avoid cutting it off in mid-thought. Identify the speaker.
2. Paraphrase the passage --clarifying the meaning of the passage by putting it into your own words.
3. Draw conclusions about how the word is used. For example, compare the passage to one you recorded earlier by explaining how the meaning of your word is affected by the character who uses it and the situation in which it is used.
4. At the end of your act, use your observations and analysis to draw conclusions: What character uses the word mot often? How does the denotation and connotation of the word change from character to character? Is there an unusual use of the word? How does this word affect the act you studied?

Sample Word Journal Entries

This is what an entry might look like for the word blood in Act I.

Quotation 1—Duncan: What bloody man is that? He can report, / As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt/ the newest state. (1.2.1-3)

Paraphrase—Who is that bloody man? It looks like he has been fighting against the revolt and can give us the latest news of the battle.

Clarification—King Duncan is on or near the battlefield and wants to know how the fight is going.

Conclusions—First quote; no comparison yet. Duncan trusts a bloody solider whose blood gives him the authority to report on the battle.

Quotation 2—Captain: For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name), / Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel, / Which smoked with bloody execution, / Like valor’s minion, carved out his passage / till he faced the slave … (1.2.18-22)

Paraphrase—In spite of our troops; back luck, brave Macbeth carved his way with his executioner’s sword through the ranks of rebel soldiers until he faced the traitor who led the revolt.

Clarification—The captain reports to King Duncan that Macbeth fought fiercely to spill the blood of the traitors who rebelled against Duncan and Scotland..

Conclusions—In the first passage, the loyal Scottish captain is bloody because of the rebels’ uprising. Because of his bravery, fierceness, and loyalty, Macbeth makes the rebels bloody.

Quotation 3—Lady Macbeth: Make thick my blood. / Stop up th’ access and passage to remorse… (1.5.50-51)

Paraphrase—Make my blood thick so I can be cold-hearted and feel no sorrow or guilt about planning this murder.

Clarification—lady Macbeth wants to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan. In order to do so, she hope to become more mannish and heartless.

Conclusions—Early in the play, soldiers get bloody as they try to overthrow Scotland. Then Scottish soldiers get bloody overthrowing the rebels. Lady Macbeth want to overthrow King Duncan, so she is going to have to get bloody too. But before she can make Duncan’s blood flow, she is going to have to changer her blood – slow it down, make it cold. She talks as if she can change her personality by changing her blood.

General Conclusions for Act I:

1: In Act I it is a good thing to be bloody, especially for men to be bloody—the king trusts the bloody soldier, and people admire Macbeth because he has a bloody sword and has killed lots of soldiers. Lady Macbeth thinks it might be good for her husband to be bloody—she wants to slow down her blood and be like a man and make Duncan’s blood flow.

2. Even before we meet him, Macbeth is bloody—he comes onstage with a bloody sword.

Approximate Frequency Count Per Act

                  Night                          Blood/ Bloody                          Hands                        Sleep

Act I         9/10                               11                                                 6                                 10?

Act II          10                                 10/11                                            6-7                            5/6