Macbeth 5 - A lesson in Subtext and Act I reading 2
"Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires."
Macbeth 5 - A Lesson in Subtext and Act 1 reading continues: If you don't have The Folger Library's Shakespeare Set Free - skip down to continuation of our in-class reading of Macbeth. The Entire Lesson can be found in Shakespeare Set Free Volume 1 - Macbeth: Lesson 4 - "Is Execution Done on Cawdor?" (pgs 212-214). I won't be repeating those instructions here - and I believe that the lesson is vital for students gaining entry into Shakespeare. Let me tell you why. For years, I'm not sure that I even understood the power of the lesson - it goes over stress, denotation, connotation, inflection, and body language and how these techniques or actor's tools - translate into subtext. After many years I realized this lesson gives students the power to take control of the scenes that they read, discuss, and later perform. It gives them ammunition to those who would argue that you need to dumb-down Shakespeare's language in order to make it relevant. There are other tools - to ownership and to relevancy. The Shakespeare Set Free lesson explains what those tools are - how they can change things and how actors can create a subtext out of them. Please note - you can skip Scene 7 in this reading and do the separate lesson that I've created.
Lesson Overview - A Lesson in Subtext and Macbeth Act I in-class reading 2
No Quiz today - the students are quizzed all the way through Act I - as always get started right away (you'll need every second).
A Lesson on Subtext - see Shakespeare Set Free - Macbeth - Lesson 4: "Is Execution Done on Cawdor".
After the lesson on Subtext is over, you should have around 20 minutes to continue your read through of Act I
Reading through the play in class. See my page on Reading Plays Aloud in Class for more on this. Every student will read - and as they do their reading - you will stop them (hopefully at the completion of a line) and ask questions or point things out (questions are better). You also need to announce (probably every day) that they may also raise a hand if they are confused, have a question, or want to point something out. This last one may be especially true given that they read it on their own and taken notes on the reading. ADVISE (AGAIN PROBABLY EVERY DAY) THE STUDENTS TO USE A DIFFERENT COLOR PEN (OR PENCIL) TO TAKE NOTES IN CLASS - SO THEY CAN SEE WHAT THEY CAME UP WITH VERSUS WHAT THE CLASS CAME UP WITH (this is an invaluable idea - that actually came from a student a long time ago in my class).
Today's Play-Reading Agenda (this is for a 50 minute period):
Continue Act I - scene 5 - starting at the very top of page 33. Read all the way through through and including Scene 6 then stop for the day. If you are short for time - after commenting on the irony of Duncan talking about "how nice things are" at Macbeth's castle - we skip the rest of scene 6.
Important Takeaways (there are SO many more important things to point out - mainly through asking - see my Notes on today's reading for more). REMEMBER: Have students see these points for themselves by asking questions to get at these.
Act I Scene 5 lines 35-36 - Wow! What an enjambment. If your kids haven't understood this concept - this is the place. Lady Macbeth says "Thou'rt mad to say it" almost right over Macbeth's previous lines. Have your kids read it till they get it this way. Have them use EVERYTHING they just learned in the subtext lesson.
line 44 - point out - or have the students do it another "bird" metaphor...
line 45 - Why "fatal" entrance of Duncan? What does this tell is going on in her mind?
line 47 - Why does she feel she needs to "unsex" herself? What does that say about gender? Expectations? Cruelty? Tread carefully here obviously - but at the same time it is so important to discuss in the right context.
Line 59-60 - What paradox do we see again here? Answer: Foul is fair - in the form of a wish for that...
Line 73-74 - A GREAT SELF-TEST for the students - did they figure out this line. She says make like a clock - get it FACE of the CLOCK - students can and should try to figure this out on their own when they do the reading.
Remind students of what the next reading is - and to follow their bookmarks.
This Power Point makes no sense without the actual lesson on Subtext - The Entire Lesson can be found in Shakespeare Set Free Volume 1 - Macbeth: Lesson 4 - "Is Execution Done on Cawdor?" (pgs 212-214).
Here is the description from Amazon: "This volume of the Shakespeare Set Free series is written by institute faculty and participants, and includes the latest developments in recent scholarship. It bristles with the energy created by teaching and learning Shakespeare from the text and through active performance, and reflects the experience, wisdom, and wit of real classroom teachers in schools and colleges throughout the United States. "
The Folger Script for today's reading.
Please note that the Folger Online Edition of Macbeth will have the same corresponding page & line numbers that I reference. Also, the script is available to download from them as a PDF, Microsoft Doc, and with or without line numbers. My students had their own copies (which I strongly recommend) that they could take notes directly in - and which have so many valuable footnotes on the left side of the page. See my handout on Reading Shakespeare in my opening Macbeth Lesson.
This is my script - my "promptbook" if you will - that I follow while we do our in class reading. Please see the page on Reading Plays Aloud in Class. The page numbering, pagination, and line number align with the Folger Edition above. There are notes that should prompt discussion (of course you will have your own as well) - but very often it doesn't go much beyond an underline or a word or two. I have included in the Lesson Overview above Important points in that day's reading.
Macbeth_dentatuon_and_act_1scene5lin35_up_to_sc6.oggClass Recordings
Audio - a recording of today's reading and discussion of the play.
A recording of the students reading the play and the questions, answers, and discussion that ensues.
Remote Teaching
See my page on Reading Aloud in Class. We did this lesson with students reading remotely - very successfully.
The Folger Library has an online edition of the play without the annotations - Shakespeare words (what appears on the right hand page in the paperback edition. It also includes in this online edition the very useful synopses that appear before each scene.
Macbeth Day 6 - Is the Text I See Before Me - Living Illuminated Text - And In-Class Reading Day 2: We begin the day by going back to the reading aloud of the play (with Act I, scene 7) and then we read (without a quiz) the first scene in Act 2. Please note - you can skip Scene 7 in this reading and do the separate lesson that I've created. When we get to the right spot in Scene 2 - the students are put into groups (3 or 4 of them) to perform - to act out, the "Is this a dagger that I see before me?" soliloquy from Act 2, scene 2. There performances are a living Illuminated Text - making Shakespeare's words as clear for the rest of us in the class as possible. They might be one living dagger - or an evil and good Macbeth - torn between what to do - all the while, saying the words from the soliloquy. After the performances we talk about what the words mean - and when all groups are done - we finish reading aloud and discussing Act 2, scene 2.
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Macbeth Day 4 - In Class Reading Act 1 through scene 5 , line 34
Thoughts on the Lesson
This happens from time to time - I believe the students saw the importance of this lesson long before I ever did. They saw it - and they used it - in class and most definitely later for Macbeth Day.