Download Macbeth Journal Directions and Questions Packet

Macbeth Journal (50 points)
Mr. Watson, AP Literature and Composition
OVERVIEW
You will read Macbeth in class (with the Shakespeare in Bits app on the iPad/iPod). As you complete
each Act, you are to write a journal entry per the directions below; this means the journal will have a
total of FIVE entries. While you should at least begin each entry in class as you finish each reading, you
may need to finish it as homework if you run out of time. The journal will not be collected until the
school day after Act V is completed in class. (If you are absent that day, it is due the first day you
return.)
Entries can be handwritten. However, if you type the ENTIRE journal outside of class, I will give you five
extra credit points!
The journal is worth 50 points on our 1 to 5 standards-based scale. The first part of the grade will be
completion; if you are missing one entry, you cannot get higher than a 4 (45 points), two missing entries
mean a 3 (40 points), and so on. The second consideration for your grade is the quality and length of
the entries (this includes following directions); the more detail and insight, the better. You are supposed
to do an entry for each Act as it is read, not all of them the night before! Therefore, for every school
day the journal is late, your grade will be lowered by 1. Complete all the entries correctly on time with
detail and insight, and you can easily earn a 5.
Remember, if you are absent and need to make up a reading, or want to read more carefully, you can
get a full copy of the play from the class wiki, or check out a physical copy from me (textbook or slim
paperback).
DIRECTIONS
Remember, do ONE entry for EACH Act (five entries total). For each entry, do the following:
Part A:
1. Find ONE numbered set of questions for the Act, in context to a line from the play, from the packet
on our class wiki. Copy the question(s) to your journal entry. (If you plan on typing up the journal, you
could copy and paste from the PDF; the line itself is not necessary.) I recommend printing this packet
outside of class when you have a chance.
2. Answer the question(s) with as much detail and insight as possible. Make it clear you've closely and
correctly read the play; as you read more of the play, you should increasingly reveal connections to the
play as a whole, not just the moment in isolation.
Part B:
Consider some of the following major themes of Macbeth:
Great ambition or lust for power ultimately brings ruin
Evil can be disguised as something nice-looking
Temptation overcomes even the strong
Guilt haunts the guilty
The concept of "masculinity" and "femininity" go beyond mere gender.
Life is dichotomous (a series of strongly contrasting pairs: light/dark, black/white,
blessed/cursed, male/female, etc.)
Pick ONE of these themes and discuss how the events, characters, dialogue, symbolism, and/or
anything else of literary significance in this Act, reinforce the theme you've chosen. (Out of all five
entries, I'd like you to discuss at least two different themes.)
Almost all of the questions come from the "Shakespeare in Bits" iPad/iPod application for Macbeth (2011).
Macbeth Journal (50 points)
Mr. Watson, AP Literature and Composition
QUESTIONS
Act One
1. What he hath lost noble Macbeth has won. (I:ii)
How is Duncan portrayed in this scene? What do you think he symbolizes?
2. But 'tis strange . . . in deepest consequence. (I:iii)
What is your impression of the witches? Are they evil? Disruptive? Pointing out
man's weakness? Something else? What is their role at this point in the play?
3. ...Let us speak / Our free hearts each to other. (I:iii)
Consider Macbeth and Banquo. How are they portrayed? Do they provide useful
points of comparison or contrast to each other?
4. Stars, hide your fires . . . when it is done, to see. (I:iv)
Both Duncan and Macbeth invoke the stars in this scene, but in different ways.
What does this tell us about the differences between the two men?
5. Come, you spirits . . . To cry "hold, hold!" (I:v)
What "spirits" might Lady Macbeth be calling upon? (Related to the witches, or
something else?) How does her soliloquy reveal about her feelings on masculinity
versus femininity? About her level of comfort with the notion of murder?
6. Leave all the rest to me. (I:v)
Do you think Lady Macbeth's motivation is selfishness or selflessness?
7. I have no spur . . . And falls on the other. (I:vii)
What sort of insight does this soliloquy give into Macbeth's character? Does it
simplify or complicate it? What makes him hesitate?
8. We fail? . . . who shall bear the guilt / Of our great quell? (I:vii)
Compare the ways in which Macbeth and Lady Macbeth discuss the murder of
Duncan. Has Lady Macbeth grasped the enormity of what they are about to do?
What are her primary concerns at this point? Macbeth's?
Almost all of the questions come from the "Shakespeare in Bits" iPad/iPod application for Macbeth (2011).
Macbeth Journal (50 points)
Mr. Watson, AP Literature and Composition
Act Two
1. A heavy summons lies like lead upon me . . . gives way to repose! (II:i)
What do you think is the cause of Banquo's unease?
2. I go, and it is done. (II:i)
The bell, dagger and upcoming door knock are significant devices in the play.
What do they do? How do they function and add to the play?
3. These deeds must not be thought / After these ways -- so, it will make us mad.
(II:ii)
Lady Macbeth both chides and mollifies Macbeth here. How much does she
understand his state of mind? Do you think she would not have been able to kill
Duncan herself?
4. Confusion now hath made his masterpiece! . . . The life o' the building! (II:iii)
Compare Macduff's eloquence and use of metaphorical language here to
Macbeth later in the scene. How do they use language? For what purpose?
What does this comparison reveal?
Almost all of the questions come from the "Shakespeare in Bits" iPad/iPod application for Macbeth (2011).
Macbeth Journal (50 points)
Mr. Watson, AP Literature and Composition
Act Three
1. Why, by the verities . . . But hush! No more. (III:i)
Do you think Banquo's hopes and ambitions as expressed here make him more or
less sympathetic as a character?
2. So is he mine . . . For sundry weighty reasons. (III:i)
How do you compare Macbeth here (talking to the murderers) to Macbeth before
the murder of Duncan?
3. Banquo, thy soul's flight,/If it find heaven, must find it out to-night. (III:i)
As a stylistic device, what purpose might Shakespeare have for Banquo addressing
Macbeth without him present at the beginning of this scene, and the opposite
occurring at the end?
4. Let your remembrance apply to Banquo . . . (III:ii)
Why do you think Macbeth is deceiving his wife here?
5. Well, let's away, and say how much is done. (III:iii)
Why do you think Shakespeare has Duncan's murder happen offstage, but this
murder occurs onstage?
6. Unreal mockery, hence! (III:iv)
Consider this scene and the dagger scene earlier, in terms of staging. Should the
audience see the dagger and ghost? What would be the differences in impact?
7. Come, let's make haste; she'll soon be back again. (III:v)
Most scholars agree that this and other scenes involving Hecate (such as IV:i),
along with the "songs," were not Shakespeare's invention -- someone added them
later. Do you think they serve a dramatic purpose? If so, how? If not, how would
the play be improved without them?
8. I'll send my prayers with him. (III:vi)
This scene is fairly static -- just two people exchanging dialogue. How does
Shakespeare make it interesting and more dramatic, despite this limitation?
Almost all of the questions come from the "Shakespeare in Bits" iPad/iPod application for Macbeth (2011).
Macbeth Journal (50 points)
Mr. Watson, AP Literature and Composition
Act Four
1. Macbeth shall never vanquished be . . . Shall come against him. (IV:i)
Are the apparitions and/or the witches trying to deceive Macbeth, or is the
problem how Macbeth interprets them?
2. Father'd he is, and yet he's fatherless. (IV:ii)
What do you think of Macduff's flight to England, especially after hearing the
danger to his family? What does this reveal about Macduff's character?
3. Why then, alas,/Do I put up that womanly defence,/To say I have done no
harm? (IV:ii)
Compare Lady Macduff to Lady Macbeth, particularly with (but not limited to the)
reference to their support of their husbands. What useful comparisons can you
make?
4. He has kill'd me, mother. / Run away, I pray you! (IV:ii)
Although not physically present in this scene, here would be a useful point to
trace the character arc of Macbeth from the beginning of the play until now. How
has he changed?
5. The king-becoming graces . . . All unity on earth. (IV:iii)
What does this back and forth of dialogue between Macduff and Malcolm reveal
about each character?
6. He has no children. (IV:iii)
Who is Macduff addressing, Macbeth or Malcolm? How might the answer
change the meaning and implication of Macduff's statement?
7. Receive what cheer you may: / The night is long that never finds the day. (IV:iii)
What do you notice about Macduff and Malcolm over the progression of this
scene?
Almost all of the questions come from the "Shakespeare in Bits" iPad/iPod application for Macbeth (2011).
Macbeth Journal (50 points)
Mr. Watson, AP Literature and Composition
Act Five
1. Out, damned spot! Out, I say! (V:i)
Consider blood as a symbol in the play, and think about either its appearance or
references made to it up to and including this scene. What might it symbolize?
How does it add meaning to the play as a whole?
2. What's done cannot be undone. To bed, to bed, to bed! (V:i)
Trace the character arc of Lady Macbeth from the beginning of the play until now.
How has she changed?
3. Now does he feel his title / Hang loose about him, like a giant's robe / Upon a
dwarfish thief. (V:ii)
Why do you think that Angus uses the term "dwarfish thief" here?
4. Hang those that talk of fear. Give me mine armour. (V:iii)
Why do you think Macbeth is so determined to put on his armor even though
Seyton has clearly told him it is not yet required? What does that reveal about
Macbeth?
5. I have supped full with horrors . . . Cannot once start me. (V:v)
Contrast Macbeth's response here with his reaction after killing Duncan. What
does it reveal?
6. She should have died hereafter . . . Signifying nothing. (V:v)
This is one of the most famous monologues of the play, and perhaps of all
Shakespeare. Why is it significant to the overall play? What does Macbeth's
reaction to the fate of his wife reveal about his state of mind?
7. Despair thy charm . . . (V:vii)
Note how now two of the witches' prophecies are now coming true, even though
they seemed impossible before. (Earlier in V:v we saw Birnam Wood "move"
towards Dunsinane.) Why is it significant that Macbeth is determined to die
fighting in the face of certain death?
8. The time is free. (V:vii)
Macduff's statement here is significant -- either because it is true, or ironic.
Consider that a repeating motif in Shakespearean plays is how nature in chaos
must eventually return to order. (For example, a proper king rules by divine right,
so it would be "natural" for a play to end with the right person on the throne.)
However, remember that Jacobean plays are often more pessimistic and cynical.
Is everything at the end of Macbeth back in order, or is the truth more complex?
Almost all of the questions come from the "Shakespeare in Bits" iPad/iPod application for Macbeth (2011).