Download Example Paper Format 1.1

Name
Class Title
Date
Paper Title (Nature’s Mirror)
Essay Prompt:
Explain how and why Shakespeare uses nature in Macbeth.
Shakespeare’s Macbeth is set in medieval Scotland, when people still believed in an
ancient concept called the Great Chain of Being. According to this belief, God places everything,
both living and non-living, in a strict and specific natural order, and breaking this order is a
violation of nature’s organization and, more importantly, God’s will. On one level, Macbeth is a
story about the consequences of one man’s breaking the natural order by killing the rightful king,
Duncan, and taking his throne by force. Throughout the story, Shakespeare uses images of
unnatural animal behaviors, disturbed nature in turmoil, and light and dark to emphasize
the dark and unnatural consequences of breaking the Great Chain of Being, which helps
Comments
Note how the writer
mentions the title
(italicized for a play)
and author early in the
essay.
Note how the writer
sets a clear context for
his argument.
Note how the thesis
statement is clear,
specific, insightful, and
clearly responds to both
parts of the essay
prompt.
reinforce the morality of the play.
At the beginning of the play, the natural balance and order of the world is in check.
When the bloody captain gives a report to Duncan about the state of the war with Norway, the
captain sarcastically remarks that a “fresh assault…Dismayed…our captains, Macbeth and
Banquo…as sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion” (I.2.36-39). Valiant warriors are compared to
noble creatures like an eagle and lion, both of which exist at the top of the natural hierarchy of
animals. Duncan later congratulates Macbeth and Banquo, and compares their blossoming
Note how the topic
sentence of this
paragraph presents a
clear and thesis-related
argument.
Note how smoothly the
writer includes quotes
from the text (clearly
setting the speaker and
context of the quote).
friendship as a harvest to be planted (I.4.31-37); such is the natural order of loyal thanes defending
God-appointed kings. Later Banquo compliments the beauty of Inverness as he approaches
Macbeth’s castle by calling the air “heaven’s breath” that “Smells wooingly here”—so much so
that a bird “Hath made his pendant bed and procreant cradle” there (I.6.6-9). The atmosphere is so
Note how all of the
details included in this
paragraph support the
topic sentence.
warm and inviting, according to Banquo, that birds make their nests near Inverness, which is an
innocent and wholesome natural image that suggests goodness and stability. Once the unnatural,
bearded witches, who “look not like th’ inhabitants o’ th’ earth And yet are on ‘t” (I.3.42-43),
encounter Macbeth and tell him his future, however, Macbeth complains about a “horrid image
[that] doth unfix my hair And make my seated heart knock at my ribs Against the use of nature”
(I.3.148-150). This is his internal struggle against his own nature, but it does not take long for the
Note how the author
brings this body
paragraph to a clear
conclusion and
smoothly transitions
into the next body
paragraph.
natural world to react to the twisted and evil deeds to come.
Shakespeare uses images of unnatural behavior and circumstances to reflect the
chaos of Macbeth’s disordering of the Great Chain of Being, specifically on the night of
Again, note how this
second topic sentence
is clear, specific, and
related to the thesis
statement.
Duncan’s murder. Ross and the Old Man converse about the strangeness of that night. The Old
Man claims he has “seen Hours dreadful and things strange, but this sore night Hath trifled former
knowings” (II.4.2-5). Ross then explains that the night was darker than usual, with a darkness that
Note how strong the
development of this
essay is, with its wealth
of strong details to
support clear insights.
“strangles the traveling lamp” (II.4.9). The darkness overwhelms any forms of light or goodness,
including the sun. The Old Man goes on to say that “’Tis unnatural, Even like the deed that’s
done…A falcon, tow’ring in her pride of place, Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed”
(II.4.13-16). The entire food chain has been reversed, with owls, the prey of falcons, now
becoming the predator. Meanwhile, “Duncan’s horses… Turned wild in nature, broke their stalls,
flung out, Contending ‘gainst obedience” (II.4.18-21). This metaphor for Macbeth shows nature
revolting against the unnatural deed he has done. Lennox also reports that:
The night has been unruly. Where we lay
Our chimneys were blown down and, as they say,
Lamentings heard I’ th’ air, strange screams of death…
The obscure bird
Clamored the livelong night. Some say the earth
Was feverous and did shake. (II.3.61-69)
Note how this block
quote is formatted:
No quotation marks,
indented on both sides
of the page, with a
period before the intext citation.
This night’s abnormal peculiarity was not a coincidence; nature was revolting against a crime
committed against it. The Great Chain was breached by Macbeth’s murderous plot, and these
strange events are the outcome of this disordering. Nature has been disturbed, and hence more
unnatural behaviors and situations will follow, including the earth pushing the dead back to life in
the form of Banquo’s ghost.
As Macbeth breaks down the order of the Great Chain, images of lightness and
darkness in the play represent the resulting imbalance between good and evil. Generally,
light signifies order and goodness while darkness represents disorder and evil. King Duncan, the
person of highest order on Earth in the Chain, speaks of his son Malcolm, the natural heir to the
At the end of each body
paragraph, the writer
clearly ties the
important ideas
together and connects
them to the thesis
statement.
And again, this topic
sentence sets up
something clear and
specific to prove, and
everything in this
paragraph is focused on
supporting this topic
sentence.
throne, as someone with “signs of nobleness, like stars, [that] shall shine on all deservers” (I.4.4748). Both Duncan and his son, as divine nobility, fit within the correct order and are thus
compared to stars and light. Macbeth, on the other hand, asks the stars to “hide [their] fires; Let
not light see my black and deep desires” (I.4.57-58). The contrast between light and dark is
obvious here, and the light will not be restored until Malcolm is restored as Scotland’s king. Lady
Macbeth calls for “thick night” and “the dunnest smoke of hell” to surround her and her twisted
schemes (I.5.57-59) while her husband later says “Come, seeling night, Scarf up the tender eye of
Again, really strong
quotes are smoothly
integrated into the
essay.
pitiful day And with thy bloody and invisible hand Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond
Which keeps me pale” (III.2.52-56). The witches themselves are called “instruments of darkness,”
and their unnatural ability to tell the future paves the path to death and destruction in the play
(I.3.136). Shakespeare makes his moral position clear by using imagery of light and dark
The writer has
obviously proofread the
essay; the grammar is
clear and correct.
Moreover, these
sentences show variety
in structure.
throughout the play.
Under the theory of the Great Chain of Being, there is a natural order dictated by God. In
Macbeth Shakespeare uses nature as a mirror to explore this order and the dire consequences of
breaking it, and we learn that it is impossible to break the order permanently. Macbeth becomes
king only temporarily and is ultimately killed as order is restored—interestingly enough, but what
seems to be an unnatural event: Birnam Wood marching up Dunsinane Hill, which is almost like
nature leads the war against Macbeth (not to mention Macduff’s unnatural birth through Cesarean
The conclusion
summarizes the main
points of the essay and
attempts to explain why
the main idea of the
essay matters. The
conclusion does not
merely cut-and-paste
the thesis statement,
but enhances the
argument.
section—which suggests that one unnatural deed takes another to correct itself). Shakespeare uses
animals, both natural and unnnatural events, and images of light and dark to emphasize that the
order is naturally everywhere and in every thing, and nature will respond to any attack on it with a
vengeance.
The essay ends with a
strong and memorable
statement.