Friday

Review the handout and try to be familiar with the speeches mentioned. I will not hold you to any written responses because the page numbers are incorrect. I think they must be from the previous edition of the textbook). Apologies.

Wednesday

Finish the Act III guide and prepare for reading discussions or quizzes next class period. B-day has the guide; A-day gets it Thursday.

Tuesday

Ok Ok. No assignment for next class. Sorry. Click your choice in the poll to your right.

Wednesday

With B-day, we'll hear Act I homework information and begin the movie if we get that one missing permission in. If not, we will have a reading quiz and begin another assignment on Acts 2 and 3.

Keep reading Macbeth -- finish the play by Tuesday/Wednesday.

Tuesday

Remember those permission forms!

Monday

For Wednesday/Thursday, read Acts 2 and 3.

Thursday

Group 1 assignment: Read Act I.1.1-11 and I.3.1-75. From these lines, draw inferences about what powers the witches possess. Also, what are the limits of their powers? How, exactly, from these lines, do you know?

 

Group 2 assignment: Read Act I.2.1-55. Mark and explain images of equivocation or of things being in precarious balance. Then focus tightly on lines 25-34 as the Bloody Captain (or Sergeant) speaks. Explain, line by line and word by word, what this passage means and what it implies about the play and about Macbeth.

 

Group 3 assignment: Read Act I.3.38-152. Contrast Banquo's reactions to the witches with Macbeth's reactions. Focus tightly on lines 120-142, Macbeth's soliloquy. Explain, line by line and word by word, what this passage means and what it implies about the character of Macbeth.

Tuesday

For Thursday/Friday, bring in your permission forms and read Act I of Macbeth and Plato's "The Allegory of the Cave."

 

Monday

Remember the files of the WLA 1 paper! See naming protocol below.

John and Grant: something is awry. No email from you!

Wednesday

Written commentaries Friday and Monday...Prepare!

WLA 1 due with the peer feedback Tuesday/Wednesday with a revised version given to me electronically. Naming protocal:

Lastname.first.WLA1.doc

Thursday

I uploaded a new passage for discussion. It is on the right side of the blog and is labelled "9.1 Passage for comment." B-day should respond by Sunday midnight (Sept. 4) and A-day by Monday midnight (Sept. 5). Grant volunteered to start us today, so you can work anytime between today and the deadline.

1. Engage the previous entries in the discussion thread: be specific in your reference to it.
2. Use one or more of the following critical terms correctly in your comments: narrator, digression, allegory, ambiguity, connotation, diction, irony, metaphor, paradox, satire, or tone. You may also use others of your own choosing (Of course!). Look these terms up and make efforts to understand them.
3. Write one interpretive question (one that requires us to look at the text itself and create an interpretation of its meaning) to prompt future thoughts on the passage.
4. Develop your thoughts clearly. You are not required to apply your critics. You MAY do that, but focus tightly on the passage provided. Quote from and interpret its style, on the ways Conrad creates his effects and complicates or clarifies meanings. Try to get the passage all over your hands in this response. Do not try to sound pretty. Be clear. At the same time, do not be afraid to experiment with your thinking. Clear language HELPS you to lead you to new thinking -- it really does...I promise.

I would write in Word and then copy it to the blog to keep from losing big blocks of material when the internet flickers. Comment here under Thursday's post.