Melissa A. Dailey
To introduce the unit I show students artistic representations of Hamlet, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Ophelia. I begin by asking students to simply write about what they see. Then based on what they have observed, I ask them to write what is going on in the picture. Basing their inferences on observations is the first step in using evidence from the text to support their findings. By viewing the images students should start thinking and talking about the artist's point of view, audience, purpose, bias and the theme of the unit.
After the above exercise, I ask students questions about seeing, interpreting, and reacting as a prereading activity. When you and another person see something, do you see the same thing? How do you know? When you and another person see something, is it possible to have two different perspectives on the object or situation? How do you know? When looking at something, is interpretation necessary to understand what you see? When you are looking at an image, do you consider the artist's perspective in your understanding of what you see? Are there ethical elements to vision? We define the word ethical at this juncture. How does what you see influence how you act? Think of some examples of how an image or a witnessed incident can affect your behavior.
I explain to students the attitude of people from the Renaissance regarding the material and spiritual worlds as explained by Houston Diehl. Students understand that during the Renaissance people felt a strong connection between the material and spiritual worlds. In addition, human beings can interpret what they see in either a positive or negative way depending on whether they were being led by the powers of good or the powers of the devil. Therefore, individuals could be deceived and see something that can be harmful to themselves or others. They can perceive the information correctly and proceed in a way that is not harmful, but helpful or positive. I continue by asking the students if they believe that this something people believe today. Why or why not? Is there any truth to this way of thinking? I explain to the students that Shakespeare was clearly aware of this thought process and created plays with such ideas in mind. Therefore in both Hamlet and Macbeth the main characters are confronted with visions of things that may or may not be there. There is a very spiritual element to each of the texts. Whether the visions can be trusted is at the core of each text. It is an ethical question.
As students read the text, they keep reading journals. When a specific prompt is not provided, students are to go beyond summarizing. Students sometimes find it difficult to delve into analysis when writing a journal entry without a specific prompt. Therefore, I specify that the entries should not be a mere summary of the text. I direct students to ask questions, make predictions, select significant quotes, and evaluate character relationships, themes, structure, and style. I encourage them to develop their own ideas about the text, but to use textual support including quotes when developing their ideas.
In the first of act of Macbeth, Macbeth is confronted by three witches. I ask students about their perception of the witches. In their journals they respond to questions such as: How do you interpret the scene with the witches? Do you believe the witches are telling the truth or are they deceiving Macbeth? How does your understanding of witches determine how you perceive the situation? What do you think Shakespeare wants the audience to think? Pull out a quote that supports what you think about one of the above.
In the first Act of Hamlet, Hamlet confronts the ghost of his father. I ask students whether they believe Hamlet is really seeing the ghost of his father. If not, what are the implications of his vision? If so, what are its implications? Find a quote to support your point of view.
After reading Act II of Macbeth, students select a quote from a few options to explore Lady Macbeth's attitude toward what is seen. The quotes might include the following.
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"Bear welcome in your eye,/ Your hand, your tongue. /Look like th'innocent flower; /But be the serpent under 't."
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"Had he not resembled my father as he slept, /I had done 't"
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"The sleeping and the dead are/ But as pictures. / 'Tis the eye of childhood/ That
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fears a painted devil."
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After reading Act II of Hamlet, students explore the idea of spying in the play. Who is spying on whom? Why? What do they hope to find? What are the problems with spying as a means of finding the truth? What are the ethics involved in what is seen in this context?
Students write poems in their journals at this point in their reading of each of the plays. The personal connections made at this juncture make a nice segue into the discussion to follow.
We begin making connections to the lives of the students. In what situations do you have to be critical about how you interpret what you see? What kinds of situations arise on the Internet, with your cell phone, or on television that demand critical interpretations of what you see?
I take the students to the library to begin researching some topics regarding social networking sites and sexting. I provide the students with specific sites to find and to determine whether they are credible or not. After the students have done this, I ask them what they learned. This leads to a discussion of being active seers.
After reading Act III of Macbeth and Hamlet, students perform Act III, scene iv of each play. I split the class into groups depending on how large the class is. Each group is responsible for presenting the scene with a specific rationale in mind. They have to make certain choices, for example, whether Banquo's ghost will appear or not. Whatever choices they make at this time require them to have a written rationale. They should explain why they want to present the ghost as visible or not. What is the purpose of how they chose to portray the scene? What do they want the audience to get out of their presentation? They are responsible for props and costumes as part of how they want to portray the scene. They must have their audience in mind. I have encouraged students to perform scenes from Macbeth before, but I have not specifically asked them to include props, costumes, scenery or a written rationale. This will be practice for the final project.
Before initiating the final project, a presentation of a scene that the students write, we will view a few different productions of the plays. For example, I would show the scene in Gertrude's bedroom when Hamlet confronts her and sees the ghost. Two different interpretations of this scene can be viewed in Kenneth Branagh's version and Mel Gibson's version. We will discuss the plays in terms of the different productions. We will evaluate the different choices made by each director and the effect it has on the audience.
For this final project, I encourage students to select a topic dealing with seeing, interpreting, and acting or reacting. They then write a scene that illustrates the topic. Students select a topic that interests them, but relates to the main themes of the unit, an issue we have discussed in the course of the unit. We will begin with a brainstorming session. Students will write their own lists of potential topics or scenarios. After developing their own lists, students will take turns coming to the board and writing their ideas so that they can be shared with other students. As a group, we will discuss the best choices for a skit. The students will be split into groups of five to select their topic and begin an outline of their scene. I will stress to the students that the set, props and costumes are crucial to the performance. It is also important that they try to develop a voice in the piece that they write. Each student in the group will be responsible for helping to write and produce the skit. Nevertheless, one person will do the actual writing, another person will be in charge of editing, another person will be in charge of props, one in charge of costumes, and on in charge of music or sound effects. The students will have a couple of days to prepare their presentation. I will allow them time to write the scene in class and rehearse their performance of it. In addition to the skit itself, students will be required to identify their audience and their purpose. As a class we will generate a rubric that will be used to determine their grade.