ENG3U – Macbeth Final Assessment – Mr. Lobb
1. Act/Scene Notes
You will submit your Macbeth notes which will be checked (not marked for content). I am looking for you to have kept a current log of the major events and key elements of each act and scene.
2. Front Page of the Dunsinane Daily
In a small group (2-3 students), create a front page of the daily newspaper that serves the castle where Macbeth rules – using material from the play, come up with 2-3 news articles that reflect what the citizens of the castle and surrounding area would be talking about. Try to make this paper resemble a tabloid or gossip blog.
Elements I’m Looking For: a dominant graphic/image, inverted triangle story format, correct layout/design, highly descriptive writing style, spelling and grammar - DEMONSTRATES KNOWLEDGE OF PLAY
BONUS below
In the style of classic movie posters, create a one-sheet for Macbeth. Using the elements of good design, come up with a poster that utilizes at least three of the iconic motifs elements we’ve discussed as well as the tone of the play. Work in the same group as #2.
(if you already have some recontextualizing going or in your mind, feel free to do that - BUT have a written component that shows your thinking)
4. Soliloquy Analyses
For each of the five soliloquies assigned, write out your paraphrased translation. Be sure to include all of the major elements of each of the monologues.
5. Formal Essay
Using the classic five-paragraph essay format we have been working with all semester, choose one of the following essay topics for a 1000-1250 (1500 max) word formal essay (NOTE: this is NOT an opinion piece).
1. Macbeth is not fully responsible for his evil actions in the play. Instead, he must be seen as a pawn, manipulated by supernatural forces into hurtling himself towards his ultimate doom.
2. Macbeth is not fully responsible for his evil actions in the play. Instead, he must be seen as the victim of irrationality. If he was tried in a court of law, Macbeth would be found not fit to stand trial by reason of insanity. (this requires primary source plus secondary source research)
3. Macbeth fulfills the classical definition of the tragic hero and is by that definition responsible for his own brutal end. Driven by his ambition and blinded by hubris, he falls from the heights of his social milieu to the depths as a result of his own actions.
4. “Fair is foul and foul is fair.” These words define the very essence of Macbeth, and set the stage in terms of plot, character and thematic elements.
5. Lady Macbeth is the key force of evil in Macbeth. It is not the witches, nor Macbeth’s own ambition that takes him to his doom. Instead, it is the direct manipulation and vicious ambition of his wife that sets everything in motion and maintains Macbeth’s vicious course leading to his own death.
This assignment will be marked in modules, with an eye towards the importance of the writing process.
The following will be worth 50% of the essay level-
Student-Teacher Conference – show initial rough notes
Essay Skeleton – as per the format we have used all semester
Rough Draft of Essay – peer edited with comments, corrections, etc
The following will be worth the remaining 50% of the essay level-
Final Good Copy of Essay
Style/Structure, Quality of writing, proof and support, use of references, depth of thinking as shown in argument, level of understanding of the play
Freud’s Tripartite Description of the Human Psyche/Personality
Why are we the way we are in terms of personality?
ID
EGO
SUPEREGO
a whole person is balancing these three aspects of personality on a moment to moment basis
What are they?
ID - the animal self
the auto response of need, the deepest, oldest, most primeval and frightening aspect of a living creature
rage, lust, hunger, fear, sadness, etc - the deep, the dark, the base feelings
it’s always there, in the background (in a health person)
you can see it every single day if you have a small child
EGO - the careful protector
the logical, cagey self - look out! what about the police? What about getting beat up by a bigger guy?
it is not a nice thing - it’s self-protection only
keeps an eye out - thinks about possibilities - doesn’t care too much about other people, but is trying to avoid problems, pain and suffering in the self
Criminals are stopped by EGO - when the conditions are right, they are happy to let the ID go to town
SUPEREGO - the mother’s voice
this is the feeling of a “Big Brother/Mother” in your mind that guides to a higher intention - the sense of responsibility and moral structure that comes from that “Mother’s voice” with which we are implanted as we grow up
some people never get this - some get too much and become trapped
the superego is CRUCIAL in a flourishing, healthy society
but too much mitigates too much risk and progress is difficult
Why is this concept interesting in studying literature?
It gives us an interesting way of looking at characters in stories
