Tues-Thurs, 3/26-8 - Crossing the ocean, fighting the forest

• P&P

• Check Macbeth - J3

• Read as much as possible today and finish Macbeth over vacation. Also, finish Leithart. Try to kill it before Easter so you can rise from its death. We will have a short MB quiz when you return, just to cover our tracks. We will then enter into the deep comedy of the resurrection by enjoying two comedies when we return.

HW: 

1. Finish Macbeth
2. Finish Leithart (no journal and no notes necessary)
3. Be ready for a quiz on the day of your return
4. We will begin The Taming of the Shrew on the Tuesday after vacation. Snag a copy.

Monday, 3/25 - Confusion now hath made his masterpiece

• P&P

• Continue MB

HW: (due Thursday)

Macbeth - J3 (Acts 3-4)

1.    What does MB mean by his “fruitless crown” and “barren scepter”?

2.    Shouldn’t MB be satisfied that he is now king? Why or why not? and how does this affect Banquo?

3.    What does the feast symbolize, and what makes a feast different from a common dinner?

4.    How does MB behave at the feast and why?

5.    What effect does MB’s behavior have on the feast, and how does this reflect the situation in Scotland?

6.    What does MB mean when he says, “Blood will have blood”?

7.    How do you know that MB does not intend to repent of his bloody course?

8.    How do the three apparitions link to the theme pertaining to equivocal communication?

9.    Why does Malcolm tell Mcduff how evil he (Malcolm) is?

10.                       How does scene 3 highlight MB’s tyranny? (there are two ways)

  

Block, 3/22 - "[Macbeth's] great love, sharp as his spur"

• P&P

• Discuss J2. Questions?

• Continue reading MB: Evan and Sam, we read up to Act 2, scene 3. Stop when you get to the Porter.

HW: None 

Wednesday, 3/20 - A step / On which i must fall down . . .

. . . or else o'erleap, / For in my way it lies" (1.4.48-50).

• P&P

• Continue MB. For those not with us today, we read the following: 1.4.22 through the end of 1.5 (read up to 1.6).

 HW: Macbeth - J2 

Tuesday, 3/19 - Bearded women, girly men

• P&P

• Discuss Macbeth - J1

HW:  (due block)

Macbeth - J2 (Acts 1.5-2.4) Leithart 172-181

1.    Describe the biblical typology of Macbeth (MB) and Lady Macbeth (LMB). Who are they?

2.    What details link LMB to the weird sisters, the witches?

3.    What is important about both the location and the content of MB’s soliloquy?

4.    What are some of the consequences that attend the “life” of the wicked, the guilty?

5.    How do MB’s and LMB’s views of guilt differ?

6.    What is significant about the “knocking” that begins just after the murder?

7.    How does nature’s order reflect that of Scotland?

8.    How does MB first “gild” his deathly deed?

9.    Why do Duncan’s sons respond to the murder of their father in the way they do, and how might it be misinterpreted?

10.                       Why would Shakespeare write a play in which the “climax” occurs in the second act? In other words, what does he intend to show happening during the remainder of the drama?

 

Monday, 3/18 - Macdeath

• P&P

• Questions on the journal? Discuss?

• Begin Macbeth.

HW: None other than finish Macbeth - J1  

Block, 3/15 - Exam and Macbeth

• P&P

• Exam - Hamlet

• Begin reading Leithart (pages 161-170) and do the following journal for Monday:

• HW: Macbeth - J1 (Intro and Act 1.1-4)
  
  
  1.    How does Shakespeare's drama change the historical particulars of Holinshed's Chronicle of Scottish History?
  2.    What are the three spheres that suffer when one attacks “the proper order of things” (and give one example of each)?
  3.    What are the two views of manhood that the play addresses?
  4.    Is power inherently evil? Why or why not? What is its purpose?
  5.    How does opening the play with witches serve to advance Shakespeare’s dramatic agenda (there are several answers)?
  6.    What is the political situation in Scotland when the play opens?
  7.    Explain Macdonwald’s—Thane of Cawdor—immense importance for introducing, foreshadowing, and foiling Macbeth’s character.
  8.    Why are Macbeth’s first words important?
  9.    What is Banquo’s reaction to the witches’ predictions?
  10.  What effect does Duncan’s announcement—that Malcolm is his heir—have on Macbeth’s plans?
    

Wednesday, 3/14 - Examlet

• P&P

• THICE - Hamlet
• Underline thesis and topic sentences
• Take all period if you need to 

 HW: 

1. Study for your Hamlet exam.
1. Know Leithart on Hamlet
2. Know quotes 
1. Speaker
2. Context
3. Meaning, paying particular attention to any figurative language and how it means in the context of the play  

 

Monday, 3/11 - I am dead, Horatio.

• P&P

• Read Hamlet until Hamlet is dead.

HW: Not sure yet. When we finish, you'll be doing a test like the Julius Caesar test and a THICE.

Thursday, 3/7 - Gravediggers' Union

• P&P

• Hamlet, Act 5 for today. Let's get gravely dirty.

HW: Get a copy of Macbeth, or just use the Subtext version, or just use a PDF from online, or just use the farce, Luke.

Wednesday, 3/6 - Finish Act 4

• P&P

• Check Hamlet - J4

• Charge through Act 4

HW: Discuss in class  

Tuesday, 3/5 - See yesterday's post for Hamlet - J4

• P&P

• Fold, fallow, and plough through Hamlet

HW: Hamlet - J4 (Acts 4-5) 

Monday, 3/4 - Hamlet - J4

• P&P
• Let's continue to kick this action live. Light! Light! Give me some Light, a camera, and some action!

HW: (due Wed)

Hamlet - J4 . . . Acts 4-5 (Leithart 151-156)

1. What are several ways in which Shakespeare shows chaos following in the wake of Polonius's murder?

2. How is Ophelia's confusing of Hamlet and Polonius in her songs doubly significant?

3. How does Laertes mirror Hamlet? How is his mirroring significantly different, specifically as regards his philosophy of revenge?

4. How is Claudius like Hamlet's father's ghost?

5. How does Claudius plan for Laertes to take revenge on Hamlet, and what is significant about this method?

6. What is the purpose of Act 5 beginning in a graveyard . . . with Hamlet talking to a skull?

7. Why is it fitting for the play to end with a fencing match?

8. What is significant about how the major characters die in the final scene?

9. What is Fortinbras's situation at the end of the play and why is this significant?