Ohio Resource Center
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Lessons
Shakespeare's Macbeth: Fear and the Motives of Evil
Discipline
Reading
Grades
11, 12
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Professional Commentary

In this lesson, students read the play Macbeth and analyze the title character's shift from a man who, at the beginning of the play is described as noble and brave, to a violent and ruthless tyrant. Characters whose shifting minds we feel compelled to follow through every twist and turn are a mark of Shakespeare's art. Giving students the tools to follow those shifts is the purpose of this lesson. Following their reading and discussions, students search online texts of Macbeth to identify and collect passages from the play of these key words: blood, fear, mind, false, and sleep. Students will then organize and analyze the passages in which these key words appear, describing what the text reveals about Macbeth's state of mind and the motives behind his increasing evil. As they engage in discussion and research, students focus on a key question: why does Macbeth, who knows that his actions are evil and will be punished, continue to choose evil? This lesson works well for character analysis and literary interpretation and research. (author/ncl)


Ohio English Language Arts Standards (2001)
Reading Process: Concepts of Print, Comprehension Strategies and Self-Monitoring Strategies Standard
Benchmarks (11–12)
A.
Apply reading comprehension strategies to understand grade-appropriate texts.
Grade Level Indicators (Grade 11)
1.
Apply reading comprehension strategies, including making predictions, comparing and contrasting, recalling and summarizing and making inferences and drawing conclusions.
Grade Level Indicators (Grade 12)
1.
Apply reading comprehension strategies, including making predictions, comparing and contrasting, recalling and summarizing and making inferences and drawing conclusions.
Reading Applications: Literary Text Standard
Benchmarks (11–12)
B.
Explain ways characters confront similar situations and conflict.
Grade Level Indicators (Grade 11)
1.
Compare and contrast motivations and reactions of literary characters confronting similar conflicts (e.g., individual vs. nature, freedom vs. responsibility, individual vs. society), using specific examples of characters' thoughts, words and actions.
Grade Level Indicators (Grade 12)
1.
Compare and contrast motivations and reactions of literary characters confronting similar conflicts (e.g., individual vs. nature, freedom vs. responsibility, individual vs. society), using specific examples of characters' thoughts, words and actions.
Writing Applications Standard
Benchmarks (11–12)
B.
Write responses to literature that provide an interpretation, recognize ambiguities, nuances and complexities and that understand the author's use of stylistic devices and effects created.
Grade Level Indicators (Grade 11)
2.
Write responses to literature that: a. advance a judgment that is interpretative, analytical, evaluative or reflective; b. support key ideas and viewpoints with accurate and detailed references to the text or to other works and authors; c. analyze the author's use of stylistic devices and express an appreciation of the effects the devices create; d. identify and assess the impact of possible ambiguities, nuances and complexities within text; e. anticipate and answer a reader's questions, counterclaims or divergent interpretations; and f. provide a sense of closure to the writing.
Grade Level Indicators (Grade 12)
2.
Write responses to literature that: a. advance a judgment that is interpretative, analytical, evaluative or reflective; b. support key ideas and viewpoints with accurate and detailed references to the text or to other works and authors; c. analyze the author's use of stylistic devices and express an appreciation of the effects the devices create; d. identify and assess the impact of possible ambiguities, nuances and complexities within text; e. anticipate and answer a reader's questions, counterclaims or divergent interpretations; and f. provide a sense of closure to the writing.