Act 4 Study Questions

4.2

1.  There are 3 witches in this scene.

2.  The first apparition says to be wary of Macduff and careful of him.  The second tells Macbeth he should be a strong willed ruler- bold and brace.  In other words he should not accept defeat.  The third warns of attacking armies coming, and tells Macbeth he won't be defeated until the kingdom of Norway attacks.
     Macbeth doesn't feel safe after the apparitions.  He has worries about Macduff's intentions and the possibility of an oncoming attacking army.  Yes he should feel unsafe because he is in a very precarious position.
     After the fourth, the line of kings, Macbeth is terrified.  He saw the ghost of Banquo at the end, whom he killed.  This frightened him as well as drawing out his guilt.

3.  In line 158 Macbeth learns from Lennox that Macduff is running away to England.  In response Macbeth decides to send someone try to kill as many of Macduff's family members as he can.

4.2

1) Lady McDuff seems to feel betrayed and angry at McDuff because he left them (her and her son) to die. She was advising her son to dislike his father because he fled when he discovered that Macbeth is planning to kill him.
2) The purpose of the scene between Lady McDuff and her son is to have his son have false impression about his dad. Also, the scene assists in the growth of the theme : fair is foul and foul is fair. This is because Macbeth is willing to kill McDuff in order to achieve what is"rightfully" his and McDuff fled, afraid of Macbeth's actions towards him. It also shows how McDuff's son refused to believe that his father left them to die, showing devotion, faith, and trust.
3) The entire McDuff family ends up being killed by Macbeth.

4.3

1. Macduff's family has been killed. 

2. Malcolm doesn't want to go home because he's afraid of judgement since he ran away. Malcolm is suspicious of Macduff bc Macduff has his own personal agenda. He might be secretly working for Macbeth since he left his family. Malcolm tests Macduff's loyalty to him and he passes. When Macduff starts to leave Malcolm takes back the lies he's told and trusts Macduff now- they're now allies. 

3. Malcolm says he's a bad king but Macduff says Macbeth is a way worse king and that he needs to return to restore peace and justice. Avarice bothers Macduff more in a king, it sticks deeper with kings in the terms of greed and lust. 

4 

5 coming soon...

6. Ross tells Macduff that his family is dead, it takes him a while to tell him. Macduff says they must save their grief for later and Malcom says to turn their revenge into a medicine for their grief. Macduff says "he has no children" and he is referring to Malcom because he says he needs to mourn and "feel like a man" when Malcom tells him to dispute it like a man. To be a "man" in this play means to have feelings and don't hide but don't let them cloud your judgement.
7. Malcom, Macduff and Ross are ready to attack Macbeth's castle, they just need to go there.

Revisiting Today's Journal Topic

I believe that the author may be deceiving us in what type of ruler that Macbeth may be. Although Macbeth is seen as this horrible man who is a murderer, which is true, there is going to be a plot twist and Macbeth is going to be a great ruler. This is a possibility because of Macbeth's character that was presented in the beginning of the story. In the beginning of the story Macbeth was the sane one and knew that killing the King was not even an option, but when Lady Macbeth convinced him he changed a lot. This shows that when he finally becomes King he will return to his normal ways of being a sane and good person. This also has to do with the fact that Lady Macbeth is dead and can no longer pressure him into doing evil things. 

When I answer this question myself, I think that Macbeth will be a power hungry ruler that is very corrupt. I have a lot of evidence to support this because of all the evil things that Macbeth has done and crimes he has committed just to become King. But because Shakespeare is a writer with creativity and something that will be studied forever, I believe there is evidence that supports a plot twist in how Macbeth will rule the country. This is shown through lines from the beginning of the play. 

ACT 4 Active Reading Notes

Scene 1
The scene starts out with the three witches making their stew and adding in weird ingredients. The witches are singing their spells, when Hecate comes in a commends them for their work. One witch predicts that Macbeth is coming and he enters right after. Macbeth asks for their latest visions of the future and they come up with three very bad visions that bring out Macbeth's fear. The first vision is of a floating head which is supposed to warn Macbeth to beware of Macduff and what he wants to do to Macbeth. After hearing this Macbeth responds by saying he already had figured that. The next vision is a bloody child appears and tells him that no women will harm him. The third vision is a child holding a tree that tells Macbeth he is safe until some man by the name of Birnam Wood moves. Kings are walking by and at the end is Banquo's ghost and Macbeth demands the witches to tell him what the ghost of Banquo means. The witches do not tell him, but rather chant and then disappear. Lennox enters and informs Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England so Macbeth orders murderers to be sent to kill Macduff's wife and children.
Scene 2
This scene starts with Lady Macduff talking to Ross. Lady Macduff explains how her husband has left her and her children and that he is a traitor. Ross stands up for Macduff and says he is no traitor. Ross leaves and Lady Macduff and her son talk about what he will do with out a father because his father is dead. The son doesn't believe her but she says that he is traitorous and will be hanged because everyone who lies and swears is considered a traitor and therefore hung. A messenger enters to inform them that they are in danger. Lady Macduff questions whether she should stay and claim that she has done no wrong or flee and be safe. While thinking about it the murderers enter and talk badly about Macduff, his son stands up for him and his immediately killed. Lady Macduff runs and the murderers take off after her.
Scene 3
Macduff and Malcolm are talking and Malcolm is concerned that Macduff has betrayed him and is sided with Macbeth because Macduff left his children and wife all alone in England. In order to see if he can trust Macduff he begins going through his own morals and sees if he is fit for King, which he believes he isn't because of his greed and other bad characteristics. At first Macduff says that Malcolm is fit to be King and then his love for Scotland forces him to tell Malcolm that he is not fit to be King. Macduff passes the loyalty test and Malcolm tries to create an alliance between the two. A doctor enters and says there are many souls waiting to be cured by King Edward. Malcolm then explains how King Edward has this skill of curing diseases. Ross tries to lie to Macduff and tells him that his wife and children are fine and that Malcolm should return to his country after all that Macbeth is doing, but Malcolm will only return with an army of 10,000 men. Ross then breaks down and tells Macduff that his wife and all of his children have been murdered. Macduff is very heart broken and Malcolm encourages Macduff to change his pain into anger, but Macduff says I must also grieve like a man, but I will take my anger out and seek revenge at some point.

Macbeth With A Plot Twist

This story would have a totally different meaning and plot if Macbeth earned the throne through doing something good. It would change the tone from evil and to heroic because Macbeth formed this great talent that would have earned him power of the throne. The plot would be different in that there would still be witches but the witches would inspire Macbeth to find a talent rather than to kill the king and there would be no evil deaths or mischievous scenes that created mistrust and disloyalty. There would no longer be a theme of corruptness, but a theme of heroism and admiration. If the story took on this plot instead of the one it actually had, Lady Macbeth would have no role in the play because her only role was to encourage Macbeth to do whatever it took to get the power of the throne. I guess her role  could have been helping inspire him in building his talent and doing good things, but the story would be completely opposite if the story took on this plot. All of the character's actions would be the complete opposite. This would turn the story around in a 180 turn, but I think I would like that version better than this one.

Literature Analysis

Sorry for the lateness on this literature analysis, but first better late than never, and second better turned in late and done well then turned in on time and done half-assed.

1. Exposition:
The beginning of the book starts with the author describing the factory to kids who are on a tour. The Directer is leading the tour and the readers soon realize that the Director is very stern and educated. In the factory humans are being breaded in order to create many at a time and many that are similar. The humans are conditioned and brainwashed to believe a certain way. They are taught by repetition that is played while they are sleeping. They find parents as something that is not normal and believe all of their species is the same and should fulfill their responsibilities. The humans are split up into species based on their strength, like Alpha, Beta, Delta, etc. Lenina, Bernard, Henry and the Director are all introduced and are the main characters until John is introduced. Lenina sleeps around with Bernard and Henry, but has this ongoing attraction to Bernard, who is not very liked or seems odd to most.
Rising Action:
Bernard is one of the men in the story who does not really fit in with his species. He was born different from the other people, which is the driving force to his upcoming opinions. While Bernard and Lenina are on a date, Bernard begins to tell Lenina that she should be different from everyone else and is implying that she should go against the conditioning. Everyone is taught to live the Director's way of life, but in this moment Bernard is taking his first step at going against that way of living. Lenina is freaked out by this and wants nothing to do with it. Bernard is called in to talk to the director, who tells him to stop acting like this, but then slips into a personal story about his past. This story encourages Bernard to travel to the area and find the lady that the Director had been sleeping with, but had somehow disappeared. Bernard takes Lenina to the place where he might find the lady.
Conflict:
When Bernard and Lenina arrive at this place they come across this lady who knows their lifestyle and had lived it once. This lady is very friendly with them and talks with them about it very openly and in front of the people from her "world." Bernard soon realizes that this lady has a child and the child is the Director's son. The Director's son is John, who goes to the Brave New World with Bernard. While in the Brave New World John fights this battle between keeping with his life and tradition or conforming to the Brave New World. Bernard has been vanished from the world for his treason against the Director's rules.
Climax:
The climax of the story happens when John, also known as the savage, attracts a major crowd at the cabin he is living in. He starts by whipping himself, then when Lenina comes to help settle him down,  he starts to whip Lenina. John, the savage, is doing this in front of the entire crowd of people, who are cheering him on and encouraging him to keep going. During the whipping, John is yelling Orgy, porgy over and over and over again. At this moment John has let the Brave New World take him over. He had made a fool of himself in front of all of the people and had given into the traditions of the Brave New World.
Falling Action/Resolution:
The people go in to find the savage the next day, but find that he had hung himself. He had done this because he could not live with himself for going to the "bad" side and for the embarrassing scene he had been apart of the night before. Although the Brave New World had taken over him, he chose that he would rather be dead than live in this type of world. For him, The Brave New World won by taking him over, but it also lost because he didn't allow himself to live that lifestyle. For Bernard The Brave NewWorld won in that he was unable to change the minds of the people, but he won in that he didn't have the live the lifestyle he found unfit for him and got to escape the conditioned people.
The narrative shows the purpose of the author because it shows how easy it is to conform when there is so much pressure around you. It shows that no matter how much you question your values and your beliefs, societies pressures can overtake you and change the person that you are. The author was showing that Bernard stood up for what he believed in and made a change, but the savage was unable to fight off the pressures and eventually gave in. The characters contrasted the different paths that could have been taken.
2. The theme of this novel is the loss of individualism through technology and societal pressures. Technology is not only taking over the lives of the people in this book, but is also something that is very dominate in our world today. The characters are run by technology because they start in a technological device that determines the destiny of their life. This idea also ties into the fact that our society cannot be perfect without losing our humanity and individuality. This whole story is about losing ones own sense of an individuality, in order to create an overall society that is run "successfully."
3. The tone of the novel is satirical, which is shown in this line, "Solved by standard Gammas, unvarying Deltas, uniform Epsilons. Millions of identical twins. The principle of mass production at last applied to biology." Page 7 In these sentences the author is making fun of this application and being sarcastic.
"A troop of newly arrived students, very young, pink and callow, followed nervously, rather abjectly, at the Director's heels. Each of them carried a notebook, in which, whenever the great man spoke, he desperately scribbled." Page 4 These lines show how the author creates a juvenile tone in which he warns upcoming generations of what they will face if they don't make a change.
The author also displays a pedantic tone because of his attention to detail in describing the Brave New World. This is very important because the detail plays an important role in the plot of the story. "Still leaning against the incubators he gave them, while the pencils scurried illegibly across the pages, a brief description of the modern fertilizing process; spoke first, of course, of its surgical introduction...to undergo Bokanovsky's process." Page 5-6
4. a) "Wintriness responded to wintriness." Page 3 This is an example of repetition.
b)  "The overalls of the workers were white, their hands gloved with a pale corpse-coloured rubber." Page 3 This is an example of a metaphor which compares the white the workers where to the color of a corpse.
c) "Tall and rather thin but upright, the Director advanced into the room. He had a long chin and big rather prominent teeth, just covered, when he was not talking, by his full, floridly curved lips." Page 4 This is an example of imagery because the author paints the picture in the reader's mind of what the Director looks like.
d) Still leaning against the incubators he gave them, while the pencils scurried illegibly across the pages.." Page 5 This is an example of personification, which is used very often throughout the story.
e) "As soon as they got back to the rest-house, she swallowed six half-gramme tablets of soma, lay down on her bed, and within ten minutes had embarked for lunar eternity." Page 140 This is an example of symbolism because soma resembles a happy place and something to escape to when things get bad.
f) "Zip, and then zip; zip, and then zip; he was enchanted." Page 143 This is an example of onomatopoeia and contributes to the pedantic tone.
g) "My father! Pale, wide-eyed, the Director glared about him in an agony of bewildered humiliation." Page 152 This is an example of irony because when a father sees his child for the first time you would expect him to be happy, not embarrassed.
h) "'Which will finish her off in a month or two,' the doctor confided to Bernard." Page 154 This shows that the story was told in third person omniscient. The quotations show how the narrator knows the thoughts of others.
i) There is a common motif of sex. This is because parents are non existent, so the adults turn to sex as something that is just there, not for love or for a bond. The adults do things with no strings attached because that is what is expected of them.
j) "'...all wear green,' said a soft but very distant voice, beginning in the middle of a sentence, 'and Delta Children wear khaki. Oh no, I don't want to play with Delta Children. And Epsilons are still worse. They're too stupid to be able to read or write. Besides they wear black, which is such a beastly color. I'm so glad I'm a Beta.'" Page 27 This is an example of repetition because it is repeated into the children's heads millions of times so that they will eventually believe what it is saying.

CHARACTERIZATION
1. "'He's so ugly!'" said Fanny." "'And then so small.' Fanny made a grimace; smallness was so horribly and typically low-caste." Page 46 This is an example of direct characterization and how everyone saw Bernard Marx.
"'Of course he does. Trust Henry Foster to be the perfect gentlemen-always correct...'" Page 42 This is an example of direct characterization on how society saw Henry Foster.
"'But I do,' he insisted. 'It makes me feel as though...' he hesitated, searching for words in which to express himself, 'as though I were more me, if you see what I mean. More on my own, not so completely a part of something else. Not just a cell in the social body. Doesn't it make you feel like that, Lenina?'" Page 90 This is an example of indirect characterization. It shows how Bernard is different than everyone else and wants to feel a sense of individuality.
"'Kill it, kill it, kill it...' The savage went on shouting. Then suddenly somebody started singing 'Orgy-porgy' and, in a moment, they had all caught up the refrain, and singing, had begun to dance." Page 258 This is an example of indirect characterization and shows how John or the savage gave into the Brave New World.
2. When the author is describing things he uses long and complex sentences and when the author is dealing with characters he uses dialogue. This is because the author uses fine detail so the sentences are full of many brief statements with particular details from the scene, but when the author is discussing a character he just wants the reader to understand the thoughts of the character.
"Still leaning against the incubators he gave them, while the pencils scurried illegibly across the pages, a brief description of the modern fertilizing process; spoke first, of course, of its surgical introduction-'the operation undergone..." Page 2 This sentence goes on for the rest of the page and on to the next page just describing all of the details of the scene.
"'My good boy!' The Director wheeled sharply round on him. 'Can't you see? Can't you see?' ..." Page 7 This is dialogue which shows what type of person the director is and gives insight into his character.
3. John and Bernard are both the protagonists of the story and they are both dynamic. Bernard starts of the story allowing the society and its pressure to control his life, but as the story develops he recognizes his desire for individuality and makes it become a reality. John also changes because in the beginning of the story he could not believe the lifestyle of the conditioned people and completely disagreed with it, but as the story moved on John gave into the pressures of society and conformed to the Brave New World. Both John and Bernard are round characters. Bernard is very complex as he is the odd one out from the beginning of his life and goes through this contemplation in his mind of whether he wishes to change himself or continue to be like everyone else. He is not the same as everyone else like all the other characters in this story, but rather one who decides to change himself. John is the same way he is very confused and in the beginning some of creativeness and individuality but later falls into the trap and becomes just another conditioned person.
4. I feel like I had read a character. It is really hard to feel like I've met a person when all of the characters are the same except a few and when it is hard to get connected to the book itself much less a character. It was difficult for me to get into the book because I didn't like what was happening in it and could only think about how to prevent that from ever happening to our society. Although John and Bernard were different and could have been potential characters that I would see as a person, it was still difficult because the main focus was still on conforming to the society and not being an individual. I felt no matter how hard the characters tried they would still never be truly individual because they were surrounded by so many conditioned people. "Drawn by fascination of the horror of pain and, from within, impelled by that habit of cooperation, that desire for unanimity and atonement, which their conditioning had so ineradicably implanted in them, they began to mime the frenzy of his gestures, striking at one another as the Savage struck at his own rebellious flesh, or at that plump incarnation of turpitude writhing in the heather at his feet." Page 258 This line is how the whole book is written and it hard for me to connect with any of the characters when all I can think about it the conditioned ones.

Act 3 Reading Notes

Act 3 Notes

Scene 1 

The scene starts off with Banquo questioning how all this is coming down and how if the first thing came true the second one must also come true. 

Macbeth enters, as the king, and invites Banquo to their dinner of the night. 

Something suspicious because lady Macbeth is involved. Banquo agrees but will go for a horse ride in the afternoon with his son fleance.

Macbeth is in the room alone with the servant and talks about how the only man he fears is Banquo because Macbeth has no sons so when Macbeth dies the throne will go to Banquo, who is the father of a line of kings. And Banquos family will defeat macbeths family. Macbeth asks the servant to bring in the two men from outside and when the men come out we find out that these are the two men that Macbeth has hired to murder Banquo and his son. These men have a bad history with Banquo and see him as an enemy, Macbeth uses his to ignite their hate and encourage them to kill Banquo and his son. Macbeth wants them dead so that they cannot try and take over the thrown.

Scene 2 

Lady Macbeth feels discontented and tells the servant to fetch Macbeth. Macbeth enters and says he is discontented too but the deed has not been finished. He explains that there are other threats to the throne, so he must kill others as well. He tells lady Macbeth to be extra nice and kind to Banquo and fleance. This is another use of lady Macbeth to lure the people in a false manner, just in time to kill them. Macbeth says he feels his mind is full of scorpions which I believe is a metaphor to the evil thoughts and deeds inside his head.

Scene 3 

The murderers are in the park talking about what they must do when they hear Banquo himself. They tell each other quickly they must kill him now. They kill Banquo but Banquo tells his son to flee before they can get to him. Fleance escapes but Banquo is dead. The murderers go to tell the king. 

Scene 4 

Macbeth and lady Macbeth are starting their dinner when the first murderer comes to the door. Macbeth talks to him shortly and finds out that Banquo is dead but fleance has escaped. He is angry that fleance escaped but happy that Banquo is dead. 

As Macbeth goes to sit down he sees Banquos ghost in his seat. He tries talking to him but no one else can see him and Macbeth has gone crazy. Lady Macbeth makes up an excuse that Macbeth has an illness where he sees visions and then the ghost disappears and Macbeth is fine again, but then the ghost reappears and he goes nuts again. Lady Macbeth again makes up an excuse and has everyone leave. 

Macbeth believes that Macduff is out for treason and will come against him. Macbeth says he will go to the witches the next day and ask what will happen next. But he believes that he needs to do whatever he has to to remain king as he is already too deep in blood to stop now. Lady Macbeth tells him he needs sleep and they go to sleep.

Scene 5 

Hectate the goddess of all witches comes and tells the queens that they should have consulted her first before meddling with Macbeth and tells the witches that when he comes the next day to ask his fate they must summon visions and messages that will fill him with a false sense of security and draw him to confusion. The witches go and prepare for what they will tell him. 

Scene 6 

In Scotland, Lennox and a lord are talking. The death of king Duncan has been blamed on his sons and the death of Banquo has been blamed on fleance, but Lennox and the lord don't forget about Macbeth and call him a tyrant. The lord tells Lennox that Macduff has gone to England with Malcolm to ask for aid from the England's king Edward.

Macbeth hears of this and prepares for war. 

Lennox and the lord hope that Macduff and Malcolm are successful and saving Scotland from Macbeth.

Act 2 Study Questions

Act 2

2.1

1.The opening gives a sense of forboding, things are not as they should be. The discussion serves to have Banquo acknowledge the weird sisters rather than claim they are a hallucination.
2. Macbeth is extremely stressed about having to Duncan and he is attempting to talk himself into committing the deed. He talks about it as if he is in a haze, a dream and he continues by making it a reality and committing the deed.

2.2

Coming soon...

2.3

2.3 1) The porter, in the third scene of act ii, is drunk and is pretending to be the Porter of the gate to hell. In the play, Macbeth has the trait of equivocation, where he manipulates his listener by circumlocution and the expectations of the other person without actually committing. For example, he does this when Lady Macbeth asks him to kill King Duncan.
2) The thematic function of Lennox describing the night as unruly was because that night was when King Duncan was killed by Macbeth. It was "unruly" not only for King Duncan but also for Macbeth because the guilt and fear of getting caught will always make him say and do things that might be suspicious, dark, and unruly. The scene is necessary to show Macbeth's transformation from the character before the murder vs. the character after the murder. This also connects back to what the witches had said earlier in the play: Fair is foul and foul is fair.
3) Macduff reports that the king has been murdered. Lady Macbeth appears to be horrified that this act could take place on his household. Macbeth is in encaged and kills the chamberlains. Malcolm and Donalbain decide to flee Malcolm and will go to England and Donalbain will go to Ireland. They're fleeing because they fear they will be murdered.

2.4

1. The function of the dialogue between Old Man and Ross is to discuss the strange happenings that have been occurring such as how an owl killed a falcon, the horses went wild and are one another, and several other things.  This wicked behavior symbolizes and foreshadows the promotion of Macbeth to the thrown. 

2. Macduff tells us from the castle that Macbeth has been made king by his fellow lords and that he will travel to Scone to receive the promotion and get crowned. He tells us that Malcolm and Donalbain are suspected of the murder of Duncan. They are suspected because they fled the scene. 

CHARACTER MAP

Here is the character maps that I thought were the best. It is hard to be completely sure because we have not been introduced to all the characters yet. These resources seemed to be reliable and the character maps seemed to be well-done.

Although Dr. Preston hates for us to use cliff notes and spark notes, these websites are very helpful in breaking down the text. Many people use these websites to take place of the book or play, where I used them as a clarifier. I read the text religiously and when I am confused refer to these sights because I know they will break them down very in depth.
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/m/macbeth/character-map

This website had a 108 slide power point that broke down Macbeth and analyzed the story. This is extremely helpful because it could be from a teacher or student who has already studied Macbeth and is not an expert on it.
http://www.slideshare.net/mkennedy68/macbeth-power-point-2331487

This is extremely helpful because it is from a teacher who is obviously an expert on Macbeth and provided a breakdown of an introduction and then each scene on their school website. I will definitely be going back to this website throughout the play.
https://accf78fc-a-8e141b81-s-sites.googlegroups.com/a/puhsd.k12.ca.us/mrs-smith-english/Home/english-10/macbeth/macbethcharactermap.jpg?attachauth=ANoY7coa3MIHZVZeiKl4t7oYXc1FoLpXqF07AbHJV4o4-L9iZ71Wt0Fd9y4DwSWvTOLhP3UoDEAbKF6HEiYprGmHpGtOesgR6mrEHT8ls_3v_WIA6qkHIgs9galDcrte_2dGWITPVBOym8zNJqsQG5D67QxGNnkOWhpwsY1i9Eo7z6_954BvQyx2MWy2zSiPEl5M34uEXZ1NNTUfqC4ZEqPzCt9YikycR-w_5fbu8JgUNmotOgruTyOa10IsOq_hgYgF6Uf71lKZAdhA9vQ1ktAbW4PDPMalvg%3D%3D&attredirects=0

WHAT ABOUT MY MASTERPIECE

Right now I am still working on my masterpiece, but in the planning process again. I planned and accomplished one event and am now on to planning the next event. I wanted to have the next event happen this Friday or next Friday, but there is way too much other stuff going on right now for that to happen and have it be a successful event for everyone. The event I am planning is a unified soccer game, where about ten special needs athletes will play with the varsity girls soccer team and have a night game, where families can come and support. This is a fundraiser, but more importantly an event for the special needs athletes to get the feeling of inclusion and be apart of something that all athletes get to experience, playing under the lights! Five of the special needs athletes will be paired up with about half of the girl's soccer team and the other five special needs athletes will be paired up with the other half of the girl's soccer team. Then on a Friday night the teams will have a game against each other under the lights with an awesome crowd to support them. So far, I have talked to the girl's soccer team and they are one hundred percent in! I also talked to the special needs teacher to see if she would have interested athletes and if there was a way of transportation to get these athletes to and from the game. We talked and decided that two of the teachers will take part in the event and be able to drive the athletes in vans to the game and home from the game. My next steps in making this event successful are finding a date, which will now be in late May after AP testing, advertising the event, and booking the stadium. With AP testing around the corner, softball season, and millions of other obligations it has been very difficult to get this event planned and going, but I know that in May it will be very successful and have a great turnout. Also, I explained how I wanted to do a dance where a special needs students attends with another student from any of the high schools. I may not be able to make this happen as we are running out of time, but I will try my best to see if we can make it happen in early June. That's my progress so far and hope everyone reading this will come to the soccer game in May.

LOVE IS BLIND

The audience sees Lady Macbeth as a crazy person, that is extremely evil. Especially, when she explains the scene about his gums and her nipples and how ready she would be to kill the King. The audience of course wants to jump into the story and tell Macbeth not to listen to her and to let the power of the king come to him naturally rather than committing an evil act just to get the power. Where I look at Lady Macbeth as a psycho and someone who has a lot of anger inside that is only taken out on other people, Macbeth sees her as an authority figure, who knows whats best for him. Macbeth, although questioning it himself, thinks that his wife of all people would tell him the right thing. This is why Macbeth will give in and commit the crime. Macbeth does not see her words as crazy, but rather ignores them and looks at what could be the potential problems that come from this and how will they deal with them. He worries about what people will say about him and what will happen if the fail, but again Lady Macbeth is there to pick him up and give him confidence. This is why he doesn't see the suggestion as crazy, but rather of possible truth. The fact that Macbeth is even considering that this decision could be right and whats best for him and the people shows that he is a very confused and controlled person. This goes to show Lady Macbeth's power over people because Macbeth would never do something like this if it wasn't for his wife in his ear encouraging him to do so.

Act 1 Study Questions

I-1

1) Beginning the play with a dialogue between the witches sets the mood to be dark, evil, and mysterious. This foreshadows the plot, theme, and mood for the future of the story in the same manner. In comparison of Shakespeare's other plays, Macbeth requires more ambiguity and the syntax and diction used needs to be more bleak. For example, Hamlet highlighted the themes of betrayal and complexity of relationships and power. Even though, the theme falls in the same ballpark with Macbeth, the gloominess of the plot of Macbeth overpowers that of Hamlet. In the beginning of the play, the witches were going to meet Macbeth at the "ere of sunset." Line 10 was "Paddock calls" and line 11 was "Anon." The phrase paddock class means a toad, which symbolizes transformation. The word anon means soon or shortly. The "toad" and it's transformation could metaphorically be compared to Macbeth and his evolving and transforming to be a completely different person or even having a transformation in his status and power. The witch's response as anon signifies how Macbeth will shortly have a transformation - to be declared a thane. 

I-2

1. The bloody seargent indirectly characterizes Macbeth by glorifying his actions towards Macdonwald. Macdonwald is a rebel who was executed. He tried to attack them. Macbeth executed macdonwald with his sword. This did not end the fight with the rebels, the Norwegians are still attacking.
2. The traitor was the Thane of Cawdor, as we learn from Ross. Duncan says that its a relief the thane of cawdor was executed and that Macbeth now owns his previous title.

I-3

1. The witches speech gives a first look at Macbeth and his wife without saying who they are. Indirect characterization of the two. Similar to Hamlet where he gives a mini synopsis early in the story. "Weird" in Shakespeare's day meant future seers not weird as we know it, prophecy and destiny. Shakespeare means that Macbeth's wife has him by the balls. They  cast a spell to control his destiny.
2. Macbeth says something very similar to what the witches said at the beginning of the play. This could be him falling into the destiny the witches set up. Dried, chapped fingers, gender ambiguity, hairy, old, they have literal beards. The witches tell Macbeth that he will thane of Candor and eventually King, right then he finds out he is thane of Cawdor. Banquo asked the witch why they had nothing for him, they told him he is lesser but greater than Macbeth. We knew he was thane before he was thane.
3. Banquo says the witches were a figment of their imagination that they lie or that they are hallucinating. Macbeth learns that he is thane of Cawdor from Ross and Angus. During lines 114-156 he was going over his plan in his head and how everything had just happened to him. He acts very happy and shows no incredulity at being thane. Macbeth's aside shows him rationalizing what happened to him and he begins to think that he is going to be King soon. Macbeth tells Banquo that he is happy and excited and nothing more he explains his behavior by saying he is confused.

I-4

1.Cawdor was executed after openly confessing his treason and pleading for mercy. Malcolm tried to stick up for the thane, but the king responds by basically saying that you can't trust a man according to his face. He doesn't believe the thane was truly repentant.

2.The king greets them by saying that he can never repay them enough for their good deeds, but announces he will leave all his estate and names his son, Malcolm, prince of Cumberland. He then proposes that they go to Macbeth's castle at Inverness. Macbeth tells himself that the only way to be king is to get rid of Malcolm, and even though he'll be appalled at his action, he must do it.

I-5

1. Macbeth was honest with his wife when he informs her of his new title as "Thane of Cawdor." He refers to the witches as "weird sisters" probably because he doesn't want her know that he is associated with the "evil servants."

Lady Macbeth responds by saying that she thinks Macbeth is playng things off as if everything is fine. By saying "but be the serpent under't", she describes him as someone that lies to make everything appear under control. This doesn't really match the characterization of Macbeth so far in the story which implies that there is something the audience doesn't know about him. 

2. The wife was confident about the guests visit. She also seemed prepared and a little cocky about the way her and her husband would handle it.

3. Lady Macbeth. Yes she wants to kill Duncan. No, he isn't sure whether he wants to follow through with Lady Macbeths orders or not. She tells him not to let Duncan see tomorrow. 

4. The question appears to answer itself. 

I-6

1. The opening speeches (1.6.1-10) describe how the surroundings of the castle are "pleasant" and the air is sweet-maybe even too sweet. From the outside, the castle appears to be paradise.
Lady Macbeth's welcome is formal. Her language is totally different from her language in the previous scene which shows how fake and dishonest her welcome was.

I-7

1. "If it were done when 'tis done then 'twere well." If it were done when it was done it was done well. (Meaning if he completed the death quickly and efficiently and with no complications then he did the job well.) Macbeth is determined to kill the king and be done with him but in lines 1-12 he is fearful of how the "inventor" will judge his actions. He's violating the hospitality of his kinship and responsibilities as a host towards his guest by trying to kill his guest instead of protecting them. The motivation that Macbeth attributes to himself in lines 25-28 is the attribute of an Arabic heaven-like God. He will be seen as a "God" and that is his source of motivation to get the job done. 

2. In lines 28-30 she is complaining about him leaving the chamber because it was  almost time for dinner. Macbeth responds to her complaining by saying did he ask for me? And lady Macbeth says don't you know he did? The positions are lady Macbeth is ready for the King to be killed while Macbeth is still hesitant and on the fence about it. Macbeth convinced Lady Macbeth by explaining that he is an respected person and doesn't want to lose his honor while Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth by convincing him to gain the power and kill the king. The stronger person in the scene is Lady Macbeth because  she's more verbally confident in her argument while convincing Macbeth to kill the King. 

Meet Macbeth

Macbeth is introduced by the witches, who see him as brave and strong. This could be an implication that Macbeth will do whatever it takes to become King, but it also can foreshadow the idea that it was presented by a witch, meaning there could be evil deeds behind it. Macbeth is seen as heroic when he enters the story because he had just defeated the traitors, but he also is shocked to find out that he is the thane of Cawdor. This could be a front to show that he respects the title, when in reality he was power thirsty to have that title. The witches foreshadow that Macbeth and Banquo will have power, but that Banquo will always be inferior to Macbeth. This could possible create a rivalry between the men or one of the men could turn evil in order to withhold the power. Shakespeare starts each act with a setting, which helps the reader to picture where the play is and some background. Also the witches play a key role in describing the characters and giving hints as to what will happen without giving the entire thing away. The witches not only foreshadow, but also help introduce the characters with indirect characterization. Shakespeare's tone towards Macbeth is honorable because all of the characters seem him as a respectable person, but I believe that this is all an act and the evil in Macbeth will soon prevail. The author presents Macbeth as a questionable, yet favorable character. Macbeth seems like a character who desires power and will do anything to be superior to others, even if they are his friends, which may lead the plot into Macbeth attempting to get the King's throne.

My Macbeth Resources

1. Alec McFarland. He is probably the most knowledgable person I know when it comes to shakespeare.
2. http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/macbeth/macbethresources.html This website has a lot of good analysis on Macbeth and breaks it down really well.
3. http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/macbeth/Links.html This website has essays from students who have previously studied Macbeth, which I can read and learn from.
4. http://shakespeare.mit.edu/macbeth/full.html This website will be helpful in providing the text and the scenes.
5. I will also use Mrs. Bryne as a resource because she knows my learning style, which is why she is very beneficial in teaching me.

Prose Essay

Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a short story about a character how is faced with the choice of staying true to himself or conforming to societies pressures. The theme of this story is the good versus evil that every person must battle throughout their lives. Young Goodman Brown's battle is a decision between going to the devils side or staying true to his wife and returning home to the village. The author uses inward questioning and outward conformation to show the battle that Young Goodman Brown fights, but essentially shows the character's unavoidable loss of innocence. With symbolism in Faith's ribbon, allusions to the Bible, and a serious tone the author is able to show how the character of Goodman Brown eventually gives in to the evil side, which contributes to the meaning of the story by showing how easy it is to give in to people that you know and trust. 

Hawthorne uses symbolism as a way of ensuring that Goodman Brown's character will continue to question the "evil" side. Faith's pink ribbon resembles innocence and purity. It shows her youth and happiness when said in this line, "And Faith, as the wife was aptly named, thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap while she called to Goodman Brown." Faith's character of purity is the driving force behind Goodman Brown's inward questioning. The author uses the devil's ceremony to try and lure Young Goodman Brown's character into the evil side, but the attraction the author created between Faith and Goodman Brown keeps Goodman Brown fighting the evil. Hawthorne also uses symbolism with the woods. The author uses the woods to resemble the fear that Goodman Brown's character feels. Every time the character enters the forest a chill goes through his whole body. This contributes to the overall meaning in that the author uses negative things to draw him in, while allowing him to recognize the bad and fear in them. Although he senses the fear, he knows that it is impossible to get away from them.

The author has Young Goodman Brown's character start to outwardly conform when he shows that all of the people who the character knows and loves, including his father and grandfather, have also gone to the evil side. Historical tradition and allusions are used that contribute to the pull between the good and evil. This story was written in the time of the Salem witch trials, which forces the author to pull the character to the evil side, but the allusions to the Bible encourage the author to pull the character to the good side. "'But, were I to go on with thee, how should I meet the eye of that good old man, our minister, at Salem village? Oh, his voice would make me tremble both Sabbath day and lecture day.'" In this line, there is a reference to Salem village, which was where the witch trials were happening and is another negative thought the author puts into the character's head to get him to conform to the evil side. Yet also in this line, the author refers to Sabbath day and lecture day, which are from the Bible, which shows the mixed emotions of the character between good and evil. The allusions and historical time period are used to show the battle in the character's head, which still seems to be confused and unsure what to do.

When Goodman Brown's character hears a lot of familiar voices from his village, he finally gives into the devil and goes to the ceremony. There the author has many other characters that Goodman Brown is familiar with, which of course creates shock, but also shows how going to the evil side was inevitable because everyone else was there and pressuring him to also do so. The author used a serious and formal tone, but also one that kept the readers on their toes. The tone had a sense of anticipation and fear because the readers knew that in the end the author would have the character turn to the evil side. Although the story is eloquent and to the point it has an overall tone of seriousness because of the topic it is discussing, which is betrayal and deep-rooted evil. The tone the author uses seems to foreshadow Young Goodman Brown going to the evil side from the beginning of the story. If there was hope that he would choose good, there would have been a different tone. 

The author created a story in which there was a battle between good and evil, yet the evil was predestined. Faith and religion kept Goodman Brown on the good side for as long a possible, but the pressures of the rest of the community, especially the pressures from the people of Goodman Brown's church, led him to accept the evil side. The tension of inwardly questioning and outwardly conforming contributed to the overall meaning in that he fought a battle that was already chosen for him. The historical time period and allusions helped to fuel the confusion, but would lead him to an inevitable ending. While the theme is good versus evil, it was also a loss of innocence that wouldn't and couldn't be avoided. Without a serious tone the author would not have been able to emphasize the betrayal and evil that took place, but without symbolism it would not be possible to create the contrast between pure and evil. 

Poetry Essay

Prompt: Read the following poem carefully. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how the poet uses language to describe the scene and to convey mood and meaning.
Poem: "Out, Out-" by Robert Frost 

I chose this prompt because Frost really uses techniques to describe the scene of the accident. He also uses many different techniques to describe the mood during the accident and what it really shows about human beings. 

In "Out, Out," by Robert Frost, the mood shifts from anticipation to detachment and indifference. Frost explains the scene of the poem with vivid description as the boy is hard at work, but seems to run out of words to say when their is a tragic accident. Before the accident the scene is given in great detail and with a sense of elegance. Boys often take on dangerous and rigorous tasks that seem to be a man's job, but it is so accepted in our culture that when something happens to the boy, he is treated as though he is a man. The young boy in this story was working with a saw, which seems would be a job for a man, but when something goes wrong the characters see it as his fault because he let the saw slip. Frost works to show the comparison between the innocence of the young boy and the experience of man to take the blame away from the boy. Through personifications and metaphors, the author is able to create a lead up to an intense scene, but through comparison and a mood shift he is able to create the overall meaning of the poem. 

Robert Frost uses personification to bring the scene to life and create a sense of fear or anticipation. In lines 1 and 7, Frost writes, "The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard." 
These lines show the life of the saw and the potential danger that it could be. The innocence of the boy seems to be emphasized by the roughness of the saw that acts as a person in the poem. "Leaped out at the boy’s hand, or seemed to leap," Frost shows that the saw had a mind of its own and again brings the saw to life. Frost also used metaphors to describe the setting in which the scene took place. "And from there those that lifted eyes could count Five mountain ranges one behind the other Under the sunset far into Vermont." Frost compares the mountain ranges to the sunset to show that the area was extremely beautiful, but the sun was soon to set and the day would be over shortly, which could have saved the boys life if only it had set sooner. Frost painted the scene with elegant speech and with a great flow of words. 

Throughout the poem, the author makes references to a boy and a man. In this poem, Frost uses the comparison between man and boy to create the mood and overall meaning. In the line "Since he was old enough to know, big boy Doing a man’s work, though a child at heart—" Frost shows how young boys were expected to take on the work of a man at an early age. Although they were still young and basically a child, everyone saw them as men and treated them as men in this time period. The reason that Frost incorporates this comparison is because he wants to take the blame of the boys death out of the hands of the boy and into the hands of the adults that were all around. The boy knows that he is going to die as he has lost to much blood, but wants to die with pride, which is why is last lines are "‘Don’t let him cut my hand off— The doctor, when he comes. Don’t let him, sister!’" Frost created this comparison that worked really well to show how boys often are forced to grow up much faster than they should have to. 

At the end of the poem, the author makes a major shift. The shift starts with the line "Little—less—nothing!—and that ended it." At this point in the poem the author changes his writing from elegant to short and indifferent. It is as if the author has no words left to say or does not know how to react to the death of such a young boy. Where the author was using metaphors and personification, he is now using nothing but a tone of detachment and indifference. This mood shift shows how the boys are treated as men and if it not them who have died then they continue on with their lives. This contributes to the overall meaning of the poem, which is that death can be painful, but eventually everyone must move on with their lives. In this case, it seemed that not the characters nor the author seemed to care about the death of the boy because the characters continued on and the author ran out of words, but the author was trying to show his disagreement with such young boys being treated like grown men.

The poem "Out, Out," by Robert Frost, shows the realities of the world, but also shows the authors view, which is him standing up for the innocence of the young boys. Personification was a vital technique to show the brutality of the saw, which resembled the difficulty the boy faced. The saw resembled the reality of adulthood and emphasized the danger the young boy in taking on the lifestyle of a man at a young age. The comparison between boys and men showed the authors view on the situation and how he disliked the fact that the adults did not do something different that could have saved the boys life. In the end of the story, the mood shift showed the reality of the rest of human nature. Death is a hard thing to face, sometimes people react with a sense of indifference because that is the easiest way for them to cope. The author's indifference showed his possible way of coping, but also the harshness of the characters who may have been the boys family, but simply continued on with their lives without any sadness or harm. 

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