April 27, 2011

Essay Writing

A Few Quick Reminders:

1. Do NOT refer to yourself! No I! NOBODY cares about you in the terms of your paper. They care about your points!

Why don’t you have to say “I think” or “in my opinion”? – redundancy = bad

Just write down the point or the thought or the opinion

2. The Five Part Essay is a good beginning point.

What is the Five Part Essay?

a) Intro – state thesis – briefly suggest how you will prove this thesis with a brief reference to your main areas of discussion

b) Body (three Areas of Discussion for a simple, easy essay)

Areas of discussion in Lobb Talk = your “units: of body in the body of your essay – could be paragraphs, could just be sections

Eg – Thesis was “If not for a few blatant errors of leadership, Hitler’s Germany could have won WWII.”

Areas of Discussion would be the blatant errors of leadership

Area of Discussion 1 – Operation Barbarosa – the bifurcation of the Nazi armies to jointly invade Russian AND defend France whilst attacking Britain by air.

In my AoD 1, I would then go on to prove that this Operation was detrimental to the Nazi war effort in a number of ways.

Mr. Lobb, can you apply this to Macbeth? Yes, children. Watch!

Macbeth is not directly influenced by supernatural forces, and is not being controlled by his wife. He is, in fact, completely and utterly, INSANE!

A0D 1 – the dagger scene is good, but it is very specific and rather than an AoD, it is more of a point of proof within an AoD –

AoD1 might be better to say – HALLUCINATIONS!

Within that area of discussion may come a number of hallucinations to discuss

Body -> Area of Discussion -> Points of Proof -> thinking “out loud” about what the point of proof means -> references and links back to the thesis

How do we actually prove something in an essay?

Anything you state as a given or as a fact or an assertion or a point, you must try to show why, how, and say where it comes from. Explain WHY

Eg – Macbeth is schizophrenic – this cannot be stated without:

Defining schizophrenic

Linking those symptoms to Macbeth

Showing how he “does” them in the play – quotation

c) Conclusion – restate thesis and proven and perhaps end with some little capper or spin off comment

CRUCIAL – you MUST make a good rough skeleton of your essay BEFORE you write it – handing it to Mr. The Lobb will net you awesome karma, free advice and marks

Essay Skeleton structure

Intro – write it out – write out a brief overview of your three Areas of Discussion

Area of Discussion 1 – (jot it out)

-       Point – general ideas – page, act, sc, refs

-       Point - etc

-       Point – etc

Area of Discussion 2 -

Area of Discussion 3 –

Conclusion - restate

April 18, 2011

To be thus is nothing; (Soliloquy Annotations)
	But to be safely thus.--Our fears in Banquo
	Stick deep; and in his royalty of nature
	Reigns that which would be fear'd: 'tis much he dares;	55
	And, to that dauntless temper of his mind,
	He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour
	To act in safety. There is none but he
	Whose being I do fear: and, under him,
	My Genius is rebuked; as, it is said,	60
	Mark Antony's was by Caesar. He chid the sisters
	When first they put the name of king upon me,
	And bade them speak to him: then prophet-like
	They hail'd him father to a line of kings:
	Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown,	65
	And put a barren sceptre in my gripe,
	Thence to be wrench'd with an unlineal hand,
	No son of mine succeeding. If 't be so,
	For Banquo's issue have I filed my mind;
	For them the gracious Duncan have I murder'd;	70
	Put rancours in the vessel of my peace
	Only for them; and mine eternal jewel
	Given to the common enemy of man,
	To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!
	Rather than so, come fate into the list.	75
	And champion me to the utterance! Who's there!

April 15, 2011

(taking off from yesteday)

Id –

Ego – knowledge of self – which means knowledge of one’s existence and therefore threats to that existence – which means, this element of personality is interested in self-preservation – don’t do bad things because you might get hurt, caught, jailed, whatever

-     logical about keeping safe – it balances out some aspects of the id –

-     - we see this in Macbeth – he seems to go back and forth a bit –

-     this is still not a good level of morality – because the reasons for being “good” are not really good

Super-ego – now THIS is real morality at work – this is much more like choosing to be good, but there is still a level of avoiding punishment –

-     We hear a “mother’s voice” that judges us and “watches” what we do – we learn about right and wrong in a much more socially responsible sense

-     Wouldn’t this fit in with the idea of God watching us?  - isn’t the idea of God is exactly what the superego is? – this is a kind of moral judgment that is deep inside and even measures us by what we THINK, which can be very powerful and also negative

-     This voice inside can paralyse us and prevent us from taking some action at different times – it can give some people real mental problems

According to Freud, these three elements need to be in a balanced state, and a healthy person, with a healthy state of mind, will be able to make decisions from this balanced perspective

Comic Relief –

-     when a story gets too serious and/or suspenseful and builds a lot of tension and the audience might be in a state of discomfort, some forms of entertainment will take a moment of rest, or break from the suspense with some comic relief – a laugh to pierce the tension and that laugh will be much larger and more powerful BECAUSE of the discomfort

-     the scene AFTER the killing of the king in Macbeth is classic comic relief – a new characters, The Porter, and he is ridiculous

April 14, 2011

Starting Act 2, Scene 1

Anachronism – something that does not fit in the time period it appears in – a time-based paradox of placement

Dagger Soliloquy – we ask? Is it real? 

MACBETH	Go bid thy mistress, when my drink is ready,	40
	She strike upon the bell. Get thee to bed.
	Exit Servant.
	Is this a dagger which I see before me,
	The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
	I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
	Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible	45
	To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
	A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
	Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?
	I see thee yet, in form as palpable
	As this which now I draw.	50
	Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going;
	And such an instrument I was to use.
	Mine eyes are made the fools o' the other senses,
	Or else worth all the rest; I see thee still,
	And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood,	55
	Which was not so before. There's no such thing:
	It is the bloody business which informs
	Thus to mine eyes. Now o'er the one halfworld
	Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse
	The curtain'd sleep; witchcraft celebrates	60
	Pale Hecate's offerings, and wither'd murder,
	Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf,
	Whose howl's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace.
	With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design
	Moves like a ghost. Thou sure and firm-set earth,	65
	Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear
	Thy very stones prate of my whereabout,
	And take the present horror from the time,
	Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat, he lives:
	Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives.	70
	A bell rings.
	I go, and it is done; the bell invites me.
	Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell
	That summons thee to heaven or to hell.
	Exit.

Option – it is real – he is seeing a supernatural, paranormal spectre or manifestation

Option – he is hallucinating – hallucination means one of a few things:

He is possibly enraptured by the possibilities – we can see what we want

Schizophrenia is a chemical disorder of the brain – creates powerful hallucinations

Sleep deprivation creates them

A few other assorted problems of the mind – this is MUCH more suggestive of a psychological reasoning for all that happens in the play

Sigmund Freud – the great psychologist and creator of psychoanalysis

Had a theory we will call the Tripartite Theory of Personality

Id –

Ego –

Superego –

Which we will discuss later.

April 13, 2011

We finished Act 1, then discussed a few issues:

Pathetic fallacy – when, in literature or in art, the weather and the environment mirror the emotional state of the primary characters

ie in a crappy 80s music video when “the girl” leaves to go to the airport, the singer will sit in the casement window and watch and rain will go down the glass before him

Certainly we see it in Macbeth – witches get thunder and lightning, and maybe staging Lady Macbeth’s “unsex me” soliloquy would beg for similar weather

Summarize the key elements of Act 1 

Two Mac Soliloquies to worry about

A list of key actions

A list of the key character moments – (character change)

April 11, 2011

MACBETH	If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well
	It were done quickly: if the assassination
	Could trammel up the consequence, and catch
	With his surcease success; that but this blow	5
	Might be the be-all and the end-all here,
	But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,
	We'ld jump the life to come. But in these cases
	We still have judgment here; that we but teach Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return To plague the inventor: this even-handed justice
	Commends the ingredience of our poison'd chalice
	To our own lips. He's here in double trust;
	First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,
	Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,	15
	Who should against his murderer shut the door,
	Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan
	Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been
	So clear in his great office, that his virtues
	Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against	20
	The deep damnation of his taking-off;
	And pity, like a naked new-born babe,
	Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubin, horsed
	Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
	Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,	25
	That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur
	To prick the sides of my intent, but only
	Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself
	And falls on th'other.

April 11, 2011

MACBETH	Aside.
	Two truths are told,
	As happy prologues to the swelling act
	Of the imperial theme. -- I thank you, gentlemen.
	Aside.
	This supernatural soliciting
	Cannot be ill, cannot be good: if ill,
	Why hath it given me earnest of success,	140
	Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor:
	If good, why do I yield to that suggestion
	Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair
	And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,
	Against the use of nature? Present fears	145
	Are less than horrible imaginings:
	My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
	Shakes so my single state of man that function
	Is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is
	But what is not.	150
BANQUO	Look, how our partner's rapt.
MACBETH	Aside.
	If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me,
	Without my stir.
BANQUO	New honors come upon him,
	Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould
	But with the aid of use.	155
MACBETH	Aside.
	Come what come may,
	Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.

April 11, 2011

Macbeth Assignments for Final Package

1. Soliloquy Analyses – we will have a few that will be submitted at the end

2. Essay – Critical analysis of some major element of the play – ie You could guess something like “Macbeth is not insane, he is being manipulated and controlled by supernatural forces.” Or “Macbeth is not under the control of supernatural forces, he is responsible for his own actions and he has chosen to be evil.” Or “Macbeth is neither evil nor under the control of supernatural forces, he is insane and is therefore not responsible for his actions.”

Could also do something about “Female power and Macbeth”

“clothing imagery and motif in Macbeth”

“Inversion and the natural order in Macbeth”

What do you do in an essay like that?

Define the ideas, explain what they mean, show how they work in the play, and then explore the effects and the point of them.

Level 4 students are exploring the effects, considering what things mean and they are giving their own ideas and values into the essay – they’re adding possibilities – ie this could mean THAT – and THAT suggests this whole thing here –

This – could mean something specific from the play

THAT – could mean some BIG IDEA (power, authority, lust, greed, ambition, etc – human drives and needs and sins, etc)

This whole thing – deeper observations about human nature and our state of life

Begins keeping ESSAY notes NOW as we read the play

 

Lady Macbeth's Soliloquy

Act 1 Scene 5: 

The Raven Himself Is Hoarse

The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements. Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood;
Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
The effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts,
And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,
Wherever in your sightless substances
You wait on nature's mischief! Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
To cry 'Hold, hold!'