Macbeth

Oral Presentation Reflections

In the play Macbeth, the main character Macbeth connects to the essential question "How far is one willing to go to get what they desire most?” He connects to this essential question because he shows a great ambition for power and is he is willing to do whatever to achieve it. His ambition starts when the he meets the witches and they say "All hail, Macbeth! Hail thee, thane of Cawdor! / All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be king here after.(I.iii.51-52)." Sceptical at first, Macbeth finds it is hard to believe the witches but when their first prediction that he will become the next Thane of Cawdor comes true, he becomes very curious as to how he will become king. "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown men /Without my stir (I.iii.29)." he thinks to himself as he thinks as to how he will become king. He realizes that in order to become the new king he must kill King Duncan whom he is very loyal to.  Following Lady Macbeth's plan Macbeth goes through with killing Duncan and blaming it on the guards. He then becomes king and becomes very powerful.

After he becomes king, he gains a large amount of power, which connects to the essential question "How does power corrupt?” As Macbeth gained more power, he also became more corrupt. He realizes that since the witch’s prophecy came true that he would be king, the second half of the prophecy would also become true. This was that Banquo's sons were to become king.  He became worried that Banquo's sons would replace him so he convinces some of his men that Banquo is the enemy and to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. He shows his corruption by killing those who are close to him in an attempt to stay in power. He also orders his men to seize Macduff's castle and to kill his wife and children after he finds out that Macduff may become a threat to his power.

"The castle of Macduff I will surprise; Seize upon Fife; give the edge o' the sword His wife, his babies, and all unfortunate souls That trace him in his line. No boasting like a fool; (IV.i.1164-167)."

He becomes so corrupt that he is willing to kill anyone that may threaten him and he is willing to kill their family. This also connects back to the essential question "How far is one willing to go to get what they desire most?"  At the beginning of the play Macbeth is a loyal and brave solider but his lust for power changes him into a tyrant and a ruthless person, which in the end is his downfall. 

I learned a lot when working in groups. I learned that it is a great way to see many different points of view and understandings of the play. I also learned that it is best to start the project early because anything could go wrong. For example, with our presentation we had technical difficulties which prevented us from completing the project on time. We should have started and nearly completed the project early so that if technical difficulties occurred we would have enough time to fix it and polish the project as needed. Something that I learned for next time is to work on the project early, especially when you have the chance as you never know when something can go wrong and it also gives you more time to polish the project as needed. I also noticed that I may need to speak up more to my group so that we can have many different and thoughtful ideas.

Overall, I am proud of our final project as I think it was an original and funny way of showing the play of Macbeth. I think that there were some funny parts that people may connect with as well. If I were to divide a pie into the percentage of work each group member completed, I think that I would give Jack and Braden both 35% and myself 30%. I feel that we all did a fair share of work however; I feel that they contributed a little more than I did, and I feel that I could have contributed more.

Macbeth Project

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgZDDPfMR4s

Second Response to MacBeth

My group is reinacting the whole play of Macbeth. I understand that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both have an ambition for power. Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to kill the king and Macbeth goes through with it. When Macbeth becomes king, he believes that he is invincible, but is killed by Macduff and his ambition for power is lost. We could connect the whole play with any essential question, however the one that I chose to connect with is "How far is one willing to go to  get what they desire most?" Macbeth is willing to kill the king and his friend to become king. "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown men./Without my stir. (1.3.29)" This shows that Macbeth desires power and is think of how he may get it. Overall, my essential question for the play is "How far is one willing to go to  get what they desire most?"

comment to power

Well done. I like how you found a few examples in the first Act to support the eq showing M and LM's quest for power. I also liked how you developed your points by supporting them quotes to further explain what you were saying . WElldone.

Response to Act 1 of Macbeth

eq: What is ambition?

Ambition is the desire for a personal achievement. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both show ambition for power in act 1.  Macbeth shows ambition when he finds out that Malcolm will be the heir to the king. He sees that Malcolm is another thing blocking him from becoming king, and try's to think of a way to get around it. His ambition for power is awakened by the witches' prophecy. When he found out that he would become the thane of Cawdor, he began to think that the witches' prophecy was true. Macbeth says "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown men./Without my stir. (1.3.29)". This shows that his is wondering whether he will become king by chance or if he will have to do a dark deed to become king. This starts to spark his ambition to become king. Lady Macbeth shows ambition for power when she finds out that the witches' prophecy told that Macbeth was to become king. She thinks that Macbeth lacks the will to become king. So she convinces him to go after becoming king. She makes the plan for Macbeth stab the king in his sleep and make it look like the servants did it. Lady Macbeth shows her ambition for power as she taunts Macbeth into killing the king so that she may gain power. Lady Macbeth says "It is too full o' the milk of human kindness/to catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great: art not without ambition: bit without/the illness should attend it. (1.5.39)." This shows that Lady Macbeth knows that Macbeth has the ambition to become king but she thinks that he is not manly enough to do it. Overall, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth show ambition in act 1.

http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/macbeth

Response to "AnP"

People are transformed by their relationships with other people. In "Anp" the main character Sammy is transformed when he sees the group of girls enter the store. He believes that they notice him and he thinks that they like him. When they get kicked out, he thinks that they were treated badly and quits on the spot. He is transformed by his relationship with his boss because he realizes that the world is a hard place to live in. In the end he regretted quiting.

Connecting with a character from "Brother Dear"

I connect with Greg from the short story "Brother Dear" by Bernice Friesen. I connect with Greg because he seek approval from his family and i do too. We both have trouble speaking our minds because we both think that we may be wrong. We also both get made when someone disagrees with our views. However, I would not storm out of the house because of it. Both Greg and I also have different views than our fathers, and we often disagree with them.Overall, Greg form the short story "Brother Dear" by Bernice Friesen has many similarities to me.

Image connecting with "AnP"

This is a picture of a grocery store. The short story takes place in a grocery store. In the story the manager gets made at a group of girls that walk into the store dressed in bikinis. The main character Sammy quits on the spot after hearing this. The reason I connected this picture to the story is because while I was reading the story, I visualized a grocery store in the same style as this one.