Friday, April 29, 2011

Congratulations Slam-ers!

Congratulations to the Carney poets who competed in the Coquitlam Public Library Poetry Slam! All the poets should be congratulated for their courageous presentation and high quality creations.  Thank you to all their supporters for being such an appreciative audience.

Kudos to the Carney poets who "owned the podium" and placed in all four top slots!

3rd Runner Up: Erin M
2nd Runner Up: Patricia B
1st Runner Up: Alex J
1st Place: Marjorie R

Class Minutes - Friday April 29th

1. Prayer
2. Act IV Questions
  • Time to work
  • Review with Ms. Meakes
  • Answers posted on Moodle
3. Read Act V
  • Started in class
  • Finish for homework
Homework: Finish reading act V. Quiz next class on Act IV and the plot of act V

**Note: Monday is the last chance to write the Pathetic Fallacy Paragraph.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Class Minutes for Wed April 27th

1. Prayer
2. Act III Quiz
3. Act IV Scene i
  • Dramatic Reading
  • Text to Film Comparison
  • Apparitions Chart
4. Act IV Notes (see Moodle)

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Class Minutes for Thursday April 21st

1. Prayer

2. Review III. iv-vi
Some key points:

  • Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's relationship is changing dramatically. Their roles have reversed. Thus, when Lady M attempts to control Macbeth's raving during their feast and insults his manhood, he ignores her.  She ends up throwing a "fit" and ending the party. 
  • Scene iv contains many downfalls for Macbeth: he gets the news that Fleance has escaped; the ghost of Banquo usurps his throne; Macduff spurns his invitation to the dinner; he is perceived as crazy by his guests.
  • Scene v is short and not very interesting. Basically, we are reminded that the witches are evil (they obey Hecate) and we learn that they are going to cause Macbeth's ultimate failure by making him feel invincible.
  • Scene vi opens with Lennox giving a sarcastic speech about Macbeth's innocence. Lennox knows that Macbeth is guilty of the recent murders of Banquo and Duncan.  How can Lennox see through Macbeth so easily while Banquo was only slightly suspicious at the beginning of the act? What does that indicate about Banquo? 
  • In scene vi, we also learn that Macduff and Malcolm are in England, raising an army against Macbeth. 
3. Act III Review: Questions and Key Quotes
-Time given to work on these; answers will be posted on moodle. Some answers reviewed in class. 
-Preparation for the quiz. 
-Quiz: On Act III, 25 marks: 10 matching characters with actions, 10 t/f, 5 short answer

Homework: Read IV.i-iii; study for the Act III quiz.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Class Minutes for Tuesday April 19th

1. Prayer

2. Sociogram: extension to Thursday

3. Act III Framing Questions
  1. How has Macbeth's attitude towards murder changed (compare the murder of Duncan to the murder of Banquo).  For answers to this question, see the pdf posed on moodle.  Through Macbeth's progression towards evil from the murder of Duncan to the murder of Banquo, Shakespeare suggests that evil begets greater evil.
  2. Who is the third murderer?  For the answer to this question, read the essay on page 136 in your text.
4. Review of Act III scenes i- iii
We took notes on the plot and the key ideas/quotes from these scenes. The PDF has been posted on moodle.

5. Themes in Macbeth
Fill in the blank notes. We filled them out and then reviewed them as a class. See moodle for the document.

6. Act III scene iv
1-3: set up the scene
1-4: set up and listened to the scene

Homework: 1. Finish the sociogram (if you haven't).  2. Read III. iv-vi

Class Minutes for Friday April 15th 2011

1. Prayer

2. Act I and II Quiz

3. Review of key concepts:
  • The Great Chain of Being
  • Pathetic Fallacy
  • Microcosm
  • Hubris
** We took board notes on this, so if you missed class, you should try to copy the notes from someone.

4. Review of Text-to-Text Comparison between Lord of the Flies and Macbeth
5. Sample Sociogram (see Moodle) based on Lord of the Flies.

Homework: Read III.i-iii

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Class Minutes for Wednesday April 13th

1. Prayer

2. Act 1 & 2 Notes
Students were asked to complete the quote identification, text-framing (fill in the blank), and motif sections of the notes to the best of their ability. We reviewed the answers as a class.

3. Literary Devices
Ms. Meakes reviewed the answers to the homework on paradox and dramatic irony.

4. Text -to - Text Comparison
Compare Macbeth to Lord of the Flies on the topics of Pathetic Fallacy, Hubris, and Microcosm using the text to text organizer. Ms Meakes gave out literary terms notes to help with this assignment. (She only has them in hard copy, so if you missed the class, pick up the notes from room 110) This should be finished for homework. 

5. Sociogram Sample
Ms Meakes started a sample sociogram about Lord of the Flies to help explain the sociogram assignment, which is due on Tuesday.  Please note that you should only include events/relationships up to the end of Act II.  There is a list of characters for you to include on the assignment sheet. Both the sample and the assignment sheet are on moodle.

Homework: Complete Text-to-Text comparison and study for the Act 1 and 2 quiz which is on Friday.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Class Minutes: Monday April 11th

1. Prayer

2. Review of Act I:  We summarized what has happened so far in Macbeth. Different students contributed facts about each scene.

3. Language Tools in Act I: Ms. Meakes gave out some notes on language tools. We are supposed to fill out the back for homework.

4. Lady Macbeth's Persuasion: We filled out a chart looking for Lady Macbeth's persuasion techniques from Act I scene vi. We reviewed the answers as a class and they are posted on moodle.

5. "We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar. We talked about the meaning of the poem, the reason for wearing a mask conveyed by the speaker (protection, to hide from the world) and compared it to Macbeth's use of deception/two-faced behaviour.  We discussed the idea of appearance (mask) vs. reality (real emotions).

6. Read II i-iv (finish for homework)

7. Sociogram Assignment - see handout. Due Tuesday April 19th.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Class Minutes - Tuesday April 5th

1. Prayer
2. Literary Devices Reading Check: students filled out worksheets on literary devices in Act I scenes i-iv. We checked answers together as a class. (Both worksheet and answers are posted on moodle)
3. Reactions to the witches prophesies:

Macbeth
  • Prophesies: He will be Thane of Cawdor and King
  • Reaction: likes the idea of becoming king. He is especially happy when he becomes Thane of Cawdor because it means the other part of the prediction could come true.
Banquo
  • Prophesies: He will  not be king, but his son (and descendants) will be
  • Reaction: He is wary because he thinks the wyrd sisters may be witches and therefore evil. He doesn't want to think about the prophesies.
4. Character Foil: Banquo is a character foil for Macbeth. See worksheet and posted answers to the t-chart. Watch the video clip (link posted on moodle)
5. Read scenes v, vi, vii

Homework: finish reading Act 1.  (mp3 file for scene vii is posted on moodle in two parts)

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Helpful Macbeth Links

Are you trying to catch up in your reading? Are you a little lost when it comes to Shakespearean language? Or are you interested in all things Macbeth?  Here are some websites you might find interesting or helpful.

Spark Notes for Macbeth  (summaries, thematic ideas)
No Fear Shakespeare (original text side-by-side with modern language translation)
Online Text
Crime and Punishment in Elizabethan England
Gross/Gory Moments in Macbeth (written by a pathologist)

English 11 Lately...

I apologize for the lack of updates on the  blog. It seems that our class note-takers aren't being as diligent as they should be. In addition, I have not been very diligent at assigning note-takers!

During the last class before the break and the first class after the break, we watched Freedom Writers, which is a movie that deals with the power of language to transform people. It served as a good finish to our poetry unit, which was about expression.

Since then, (on Wednesday and Friday) we have had two classes of Macbeth. Here's what we've done.

1. Returned PC's and Tom Phillips found poetry assignments and filled out our writing logs.
(note: Your PC,  found poem, poetry slam, and poetry explication paragraph will all be on your April interim report card. Please make sure that you've completed all of those assignments by Tuesday April 5th)

2. Anticipation Guide for Macbeth. In class, we coupled the paper anticipation guide with an agree/disagree line to discuss some of the ideas from the play.

3. Predicted the content of the play and watched a 96 second summary (the link to the video is on Moodle).

4. Explored the concept of witches, sorcery, and superstition.  Please see the notes on fate/fortune, the video clip on the curse of Macbeth, the video clip on the fates, and the prezi.

5. Read Act I scene i. How does this scene set up the mood/tone of the play? Watch for the two paradoxes that set up the "appearances vs reality" motif.

6. Explored the concepts of  the great chain of being, hubris, the tragic hero, and crime/violence. See the prezi and "If the Crime Fits" pre-reading worksheet.

7. Read Act I scene ii and looked for descriptions of Macbeth. See the word document notes.

8. Read Act I scene iii.  Think about the following questions: What have the witches been doing since scene i. What do they do at the beginning of the scene?  What are the witches prophesies for Macbeth and Banquo? How do Macbeth and Banquo respond differently to the witches' prophesies?

Note: an aside is a theatrical technique in which a character speaks his or her thoughts to the audience. The other characters cannot hear these thoughts (even though the actors clearly are able to hear the words). This is almost like a "voice over" in a movie. It differs from a soliloquy because during a soliloquy, characters are typically alone on the stage.

9. Homework - finish reading Act I scene iii and be ready to answer the following question: how do Macbeth and Banquo respond differently to the witches' prophesies?  Read Act I scene iv.

For those of you who have been away, please note that you are expected to be caught up when you return to class. We are moving rapidly through Macbeth. If you miss class, please check moodle and the blog before you return and come to tutorials (Tuesday April 5th and subsequent Mondays) if you need clarification.  This goes for the San Diego trip, Bio trip, and all other absences.