Sec+4+-+Macbeth+(By+Mrs+Laura+Ng)

//by Laura Ng//
__LEARNING OUTCOMES__

CORE CURRICULUM CURRICULUM OF CONNECTIONS CURRICULUM OF PRACTICE CURRICULUM OF IDENTITY
 * Students to analyse how aspects of atmosphere and setting in two witches' scenes create 'fear and evil' in the screenplay and as central to the play
 * Students to identify and interpret use of symbols and motifs in the setting and atmosphere to grasp depth of meaning in both screenplay and text
 * Students to understand how intertextual meaning is generated through relationships between different genres - film (screenplay) and drama (text).
 * Students to explore the connections between the unnatural events in //Macbeth// and the supernatural portents that bring about Macbeth's descent
 * Students to select, analyse and organise information from the text to construct a coherent argument in response to questions
 * Students to analyse and evaluate the influences of the witches and the supernatural from both secondary and primary literature in constructing their written response
 * Students to consider how the theme of 'fear and evil' in Shakespeare's time is still relevant to their own experiences and the implications for managing such emotions in modern contemporary society

"How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags!"
(Act 4, Sc 1)


The opening scene plays an important role in setting the tone for the entire play. Tone is defined by an interplay of the setting and atmosphere. A close comparative analysis of Act 1 Scene 1 and Act 4 Scene 1, as portrayed in Shakespeare's text and in Roman Polanski's 1971 film, "The Tragedy of Macbeth", will be used in our lesson today.
 * __Introduction__**

__**(I) Independent Learning**__
__Required Reading:__
 * Act 1, Sc 1
 * Act 1, Sc 3: line 1to 89
 * Act 3, Sc 5
 * Act 4, Sc 1

__ (a) What is setting? (b) How is setting identified? (c) What is the purpose of the use of setting? (d) How does setting contribute to meaning? (a) What is atmosphere? (b) How is atmosphere identified? (c) What is the purpose of the use of atmosphere? (d) How does atmosphere contibute to meaning?
 * SETTING: **__ [[file:Setting.doc]]
 * __ ATMOSPHERE: __** [[file:Atmosphere.doc]]

**__(II) Discussion__**
__Instructions and Viewing Time (10mins)__ Watch the following two clips and make quick notes on your reaction to the use of the supernatural in "//Macbeth//". Pay close attention to the setting and atmosphere bearing in mind the differences between the text and film interpretations.

Film Clip 1 - The Witches' Opening Scene media type="youtube" key="A1lHYvxieB8" height="385" width="480"

Film Clip 2 - The Witches' Cavern Scene and Macbeth's Prophetic Vision media type="youtube" key="RnxQlYUDkjQ" height="385" width="640"

__After watching Video Clip 1,__ Consider, think and respond:
 * Which time period is "//Macbeth"// set in? Is this important to our understanding of Shakespeare's play?
 * Where is the setting of this scene in Act 1, Sc 1? What time of the day is this scene set?
 * Who are the characters in this scene? Where have they come from? What do they look like? How are they dressed? Generally, how are they introduced to us?
 * What are the characters doing here? What have they brought with them? Are these items symbols or motifs? Do they have any significance for the future?
 * What are they saying to each other and among themselves? Examine the language. Why do they speak in riddles? Do you recognize a strong rhythmic rhyme pattern used; why is this so?
 * What emotional response does the setting elicit from you? How are you affected by the setting- emotionally, psychologically, intellectually?
 * Compare the ways in which setting and atmosphere are portrayed in the text, and in the film? Discuss if the film rendition has been a fair representation of the meaning intended in the text.
 * What, do you think is the playwright's and /or the director's intention in using setting and atmosphere to create the mood so early as at the start of the play? What is the mood at the close of this scene with the lines "Fair is foul, and foul is fair: / Hover through the fog and filthy air"?

__After watching Video Clip 2,__ Consider, think and respond:
 * Where is the setting of this scene? What time of the day is this scene set?
 * Where has Macbeth just come from and why is he there?
 * How is the habitat of the witches portrayed? Do they welcome Macbeth? What does this imply?
 * Who are the characters here? Are they the same characters as those at the start of the play? How are they 'attired'? Why has the screenplay director allowed the witches to be fully nude? Is nudity here considered obscenity or acceptable? Is this artistry or pornography? Share your views and discuss if the rest of your group agree or disagree with your opinion? How far has the director strayed from the text? What dramatic purpose is served by the setting and the witches' appearances?
 * What is common about the ingredients thrown into the cauldron? What do they depict? How do these symbols, motifs and images contribute to the mood and atmosphere of the scene?
 * The screenplay depiction of meaning differs from that of the set text. Which portrayal is more successful? Why?
 * What emotions do the atmosphere here create in you?
 * How are you affected by the atmosphere emotionally, psychological and intellectually?
 * Compare the ways in which atmosphere is portrayed in the text, and in the film? Which do you prefer and why?

__**(III) TASK**__
__(A) In-class Activity Time (Duration: 20 mins)__ ** Group discussion time: 10mins Presentation time: 10mins ** 1) Discuss the stimulus questions above, buzz in your small groups and construct a Powerpoint to present your discussion. For this lesson, focus on the Youtube clips. You may follow up with a comparison of the film and text versions in our next lesson. 2) Groups 1, 3 and 5 will analyse Clip 1. You may also discuss the influence of the witches from Scene 3 of the same act. 3) Groups 2, 4 and 6 will analyse Clip 2. 4) Note that each group is a Learning Clinic. Identify a pair of students to mend the station while the rest can move around the class to view their students' work. You will present your discussion to your friends who stroll to your station. Lesson Closure time: 5mins ** 5) In closing, I will take you through through some key ideas and moderate your discussion with the rest of the class.
 * Teacher moderator's time: 5mins

(cite relevant Act, Sc, lines) || * __Descriptions, language, thoughts, feelings__ a) atmosphere b) mood__ || (environment, surroundings) ||  ||   || & Hecate (appearance, language, intent, power, role) ||  ||   || conflict of Macbeth (psychological states) ||  ||   || (graymalkin,paddock, toad, newt, frog, etc) ||  ||   || (how will evil manifest itself in the later scenes?) ||  ||   ||
 * __Template to guide and give structure to your thoughts:__**
 * __Examples__ __of suspense & excitement__
 * __Predict what will happen__
 * __Effect of suspense on reader / audience__ || __Analyse contribution to:
 * 1) Setting
 * 2) Portrayal of witches
 * 3) Inner and outer
 * 4) Symbols, motifs
 * 5) Foreshadowing

__**(B) Online Forum Discussion**__

1. Go to your Forum Discussion page and respond to the question posted. You may post an initial response to my question and follow up with replies to your peers' responses with as many entries as you like. 2. Note that you are to base your discussion on textual evidence and apply the P-E-E (Point-Evidence-Elaboration) approach to answering. Do not confuse text and screenplay. Be grounded in the //Macbeth// text we are studying. 3. Personal attacks, trite, frivolous and fictitious accounts of any sort will be censored by me. 4. Acknowledge your sources. Plagiarism or wholesale lifting from guidebooks or online resources without proper referencing is strongly discouraged. Be more intellectually reflective in your critique to minimise this problem.

__**(C) Follow-up Activity - Worksheet and Essay Assignments** __

The follow-up worksheet is to engage you in examining the full act. It is a scaffolded worksheet that guides your exploration understanding in __three__ key aspects: i) Comparison of the literal and allusionary aspects of the prophetic vision ii) Analysing the theatrical effects of the witches' role and their influence on the atmosphere and theme iii) Examine the duplicity in Malcolm's conversation with Macduff. Is he equivocating like the witches? What can we imply of Polanski's portrayal of Malcolm's ride to the heath and cavern in the last scene of his screenplay?


 * __ESSAY (written assignment):__**

When the hurlyburly's done, When the battle's lost and won, That will be ere the set of sun. Fear and evil are at the heart of the play. Show how Shakespeare uses various settings in //Macbeth// to illustrate Macbeth's nightmarish descent into hell, an inevitable journey of his own doing.

__Helping words__: //unnatural sin,// //aura of descent, moral darkness, horror, torment, vile, foul, evil, shame, damnation, pity, fear.//

__Deadline__: 7th of August, Friday.

**__(IV) REFLECTIONS__**
Post your reflections of __not more than 300 words__ to this lesson in the iVLE:
 * What are the key learning points for you from your (a) in-class lesson, (b) online forum discussion?
 * Which part of this module do you not like? Were there problems encountered? How did your group work together to resolve the painful aspects of the lesson?
 * What suggestions do you have to further improve such units of thematic studies in literature?
 * Would you like more of IT lessons? Or would you rather we have blended learning - a mixture of IT and traditional teaching and learning?
 * What other topics in //Macbeth// would you like covered in this manner? Would you want to work with me collaboratively on designing a thematic unit?

**__(V) ADDITIONAL READINGS__**
1.[] An introduction to the Great Chain of Being putting Macbeth's crime in that context

2. [] A brief summary of the great chain of being and how it is reflected in several of Shakespeare's works

3. [] Background information to witchcraft in Elizabethan England and how witches are treated then.

4.[] An evaluation of the participation of the supernatural in the tragedy

5.[] An analysis of the function of the supernatural in //Macbeth// and //Hamlet//

6. [] Origins of the 'weird sisters' and their occult significance

7. [] An essay explaining the evil influence the witches worked on Macbeth

8. [] An essay describing Macbeth's moral descent with his wife Lady Macbeth

9. [] An essay which discusses the forces of evil which compositely led to Macbeth's decline

10. [] An essay on the use of imagery, atmosphere and irony in analysing the interplay between good and evil in Macbeth's fall from grace