Blogger #34 - Jayden Zhou - Period 9 - 12/10/21

Blogger #34 - Jayden Zhou - Period 9 - 12/10/21

Aim: How is the motif of promises highlighted through the use of imagery?

At the beginning of class, Ms. Peterson announced that there will be a kahoot on Monday 12/13/21. It will be about what students have learned over the past week when studying the play Macbeth. There will be no trick questions and will be straightforward. It is only being used to measure how well students understand Shakespeare rather than being a tool to fail every student .

After the reminder, the class broke into groups to answer questions from yesterday regarding Act 1 Scene 6 in Macbeth.


1.What commentary are Banquo and King Duncan making about the atmosphere of the castle? What mood does this create? How does it compare and/or contrast to the knowledge of the audience (Hint: Consider the Ironies learned)?

Banquo and King Duncan describe the atmosphere of the castle as pleasant and welcoming . This creates a calm and peaceful mood for the audience. However, it contrasts the knowledge of what we know since we know that there will be killing and violence later on in the play. This is Dramatic Irony (when the audience/readers know something that the characters do not). In this case, the audience knows something bad will happen to King Duncan while King Duncan himself is unaware of what will happen to him.




2) How has the theme of Appearance vs Reality evident in Duncan’s first line?

Similar to the previous question, King Duncan describes the castle as beautiful, pleasant, and welcoming (appearance). However, inside the castle, there is a plot to kill the king which contrasts the appearance of the castle (reality).

        

3) Explain the culture of xenia (Previously Learned) as demonstrated between Lady Macbeth and King Duncan?

Reminder: Xenia is hospitality and welcoming those inside your house. The guest is expected to be respectful in return. This originated from Greek culture as it was a custom to greet and help strangers. It was believed that gods would conceal themselves and would release “havoc” if the host rejected them.

In the beginning, Lady Macbeth kindly invites King Duncan into her castle. She shows respect and offers anything to him. King Duncan also shows respect to her by simply saying that he is the guest. This shows the concept of xenia as the host (Lady Macbeth) kindly welcomes the guest (King Duncan) and in return, the guest shows respect.


4) Why do you suppose Lady Macbeth is greeting Duncan without her husband?

According to Lady Macbeth, Macbeth can not hide his emotions well enough and that if he was there to meet the king, his face and expression would give away their true intentions. Both of them can not risk getting caught as both could be charged for treason and be executed.



After discussing the question both as a group and as a whole, students were put back into their groups to list characteristics and traits regarding Lady Macbeth.

List of Lady Macbeth characteristics (defined by the whole class

Note that “Ambitious” is in both categories as it can be positive or negative depending on how people view them.


After characterizing Lady MacBeth, the class (as a whole) were to answer the following question: At this point, who influenced Macbeth most (Lady Macbeth, witches, himself?)


There was a heated debate as the class argued which person influenced Macbeth the most. For the majority, there were two sides of the debate. One side stated that the witches influenced him the most. The witches told Macbeth that he would be king one day. This influences Macbeth as he can not get rid of the thought that he would be king. The other side stated that Lady Macbeth influenced the most. Without her cunning thinking and planning, Macbeth would have just thought that someday he will be king, which may not ever happen, without taking any actions.

                  

Finally the class was asked this question: If a man and woman argue, what methods could she use to make the man see things her way? Why?


Class-generated responses:

-Manipulate and say things against them

-Make them feel guilty

-Appeal to their ego/flattery

-Logical reasoning

-Threaten

-Fake tears



Reflection

Today, I learned that Act 1 Scene 6 in Macbeth is a very important scene. Many deep connections were made between what is described and what might happen in the future. Although the castle is described as welcoming pleasant, there are many secrets within such as a plot for murder. The lesson also refreshed my knowledge on irony, characterization, and theme. Knowing what irony is will be needed for the future as there are many ironic things that may happen not only in the play, but also globally. Understanding irony allows you to think deeper as well as entertain you and make you laugh (which is hard to do) if you can understand it. Knowing how to characterize a character is also important as it will help you understand a piece of literature better. Knowing someone’s physical appearance and traits can help in the future as you can predict how they will interact with nature and other characters. Finally, theme is important to know as it will always pop up occasionally and will forever haunt you. Understanding the theme allows you to understand why the author wrote what he/she wrote as well as teach you a life lesson (which that itself can be helpful too).