Melissa A. Dailey
Lesson 1
Initiation: Writing prompt on the board states: What is Lady Macbeth's attitude toward what she sees and what Macbeth sees? Students will write their ideas in their journals for five minutes.
Background: Now that we have read Act II, students can understand that Lady Macbeth has a complex attitude toward what she sees. She seeks to deceive with appearances, and she is also affected by what she sees, but when it comes to Macbeth, she feels he should not be affected by what he sees. In the following quotes these attitudes are apparent. In small groups of three or four you will be required to find the quote, discuss its implications and write a response.
Practice:
The following quotes are assigned to different groups.
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"Bear welcome in your eye,/ Your hand, your tongue. /Look like th'innocent
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flower; /But be the serpent under 't."
13
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"Had he not resembled my father as he slept, /I had done 't"
14
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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."
15
After finding and discussing the assigned quote, answer the following questions in your journals: What does the quote mean? What does the quote reveal about Lady Macbeth's attitude toward what she sees? How is the quote significant to the overall meaning of the text?
Closure: Students share their responses to the quotes. The responses to the quotes promote a discussion of Lady Macbeth and vision in general.
Lesson 2
Initiation: I hand out copies of May Swenson's poem "Come In Go Out." Students take turns reading the poem out loud. As students read, I encourage them to take note of the different ways that each student reads the same poem. In addition to the different voices and intonations, the students have the opportunity to read the poem a column at a time or straight across, right to left. The multiple readings of the poem are due in part to the way the poem is laid out on the page in two columns of verse.
Background/Model: Throughout this unit we discuss the problems of vision and the interpretation of what we see. In this poem not only are there multiple ways of seeing the poem visually, there are also multiple ways of reading the poem's content. The poem itself can be read as a metaphor for life and death or other forces of nature. Because the poem is written with two columns of verse, one can read the poem in at least two different ways. Each reading affects the meaning, but not necessarily the overall metaphor of the poem. Now that we have read this text, students write their own poems. The student-generated poems can experiment with visual structure as well as metaphorical meaning. The main focus of the writing encourages students to explore their feelings about the topics discussed throughout the unit.
Practice: Students write their own poetry in their journals.
Closure: Students share their poetry. The class discusses the possible readings of the presenter's poem. Some of the differences in interpretation should be due to the visual representation of the poetry in addition to its content.
Lesson 3
Initiation: Writing prompt on the board states: How do you express yourself through movement? Think of one action that reflects who you are as a person. The movement can reflect something that you feel, believe, or anything you want to express about yourself. Once students have thought about this question and jotted down ideas in their journals, some students briefly share their ideas.
Background/Model: As practice for the skits and performances students create, we explore Shakespearean characters through movement. This exploration also brings depth to the students' understanding of the characters and their struggles. Each student selects a character from Macbeth or Hamlet. The students present a representation of the character's three selves through movement. They present an inner self, an outer self and a dream self without using words. As a bonus students can strictly focus on the character's attitude toward vision in the text. What are the character's various attitudes toward what he or she sees? I offer an example of a character from another text so that I do not inhibit their ability to create original ideas about the Shakespearean characters.
Practice: Students practice their movements in an open space. I take the students outside, but schools with a gym or auditorium may use that space.
Closure: Students perform their presentations of their characters. The students presenting are not allowed to speak at all during the performance. Once the student has completed his or her movements, the class guesses what the student was saying. The performer shares his or her intentions, and we discuss the validity or quality of the performance.