March 5, 2009

1. Finish reading Act 4, Scene 1. Assign several students to read the parts of the apparitions in tandem. Discuss the scene: What does Macbeth want? What is in his way? How does he try to surmount the obstacles? Do his objectives change in the course of the scene? What about the witches—what do they want? What do they do to get it? Make sure students pick up on Macbeth’s darkening resolve and desperation.
2. Have students meet together in Word Journal Groups for Hand, Sleep, Blood, and Night. Give them about 10-15 minutes to discuss their findings, giving special emphasis to the “conclusions” part.
3. Demonstrate a word web using the word Ambition.
4. Write Sleep, Night, Hand, and Blood on the board and have each group of students create a word web of associations with their word.
5. Cutting a scene-if there is time: Give Scene 4.2 to half the class and scene 4.3 (in two sections) to the other half of the class. Have them group up and decide how they would cut their assigned scene to retain meaning and flow but eliminate confusion and wordiness. Tell them that they must preserve the integrity of the lines: i.e. blank verse, iambic pentameter, etc. Have each group demonstrate their cut scene (might need to do tomorrow.)

Homework Collected:

Cut scenes with group names on them, unless due tomorrow.

Homework Given:

Persuasive Research Paper: 1st Draft Due: March 10, Research Portfolio Due: March 17,
2nd Draft Due: March 24,
Final Paper Due: March 31,
Reflection Paper Due: April 14

Handouts given out: None

To Read: Macbeth 4.1-3