THE CRITICAL FORUM

Assignments on Macbeth

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Assignments on Macbeth assumes that students will have watched a film or production of the play, will know the plot, and will have begun to develop ideas about the characters. There is no need to have ploughed through the text in class – all the extracts needed for study are presented, unabridged, within each assignment.

Section One puts the play into its historical context and provides the necessary background information on Shakespeare’s world and theatre. Section Two encourages pupils to formulate their own personal response to the play’s major issues – and to write about them with both structure and conviction. Here there are two main thrusts. First, there is a focus on collecting and interpreting evidence through close reading of the text. Secondly, there is a concern for the dying art of writing a tightly argued essay. Students are encouraged to use a ‘Planning Sheet’, printed as an appendix, for each assignment – not least to inculcate good habits which are relevant to all subjects and should last a lifetime.

Topics covered are:

• Is Banquo ‘royal in nature’, or is he too a sharer in evil?
• Why does Macbeth murder Duncan?
• Do you agree that Macbeth is simply a ‘butcher’?
• Do you feel any sympathy for Lady Macbeth?
• Write Macduff’s account of Duncan’s murder, his flight to England and his final revenge.
• What is the role of the Witches in Macbeth?
• Trace and comment on the use of ‘blood’ and ‘clothes’ images in Macbeth. (Each topic stands alone and is presented in ‘workbook’ format.)

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