Blogger #5 - Huixin Chen (Tracy) - Period 3 - 12/17/2021

Blogger #5 - Huixin Chen (Tracy) - Period 3 - 12/17/2021

Aim: How are the major symbols in Macbeth used to create allusions and connections?

Do-Now Discussion:

Today’s lesson is a continuation of yesterday’s lesson on allusions and symbols and their occurrence in the book Macbeth by Shakespeare. The do now assignment was a class (and team) discussion on the topic of political murders and how it affects the country and its people as a whole. One team first brought up the assassination of John F. Kennedy and how it was a controversial topic: while some people would like a certain political figure others would dislike them. They ended their thought with the mention that when a president is killed, it becomes a big deal because people start scrambling to find out who killed that person. Another team brought up that the assassination of political figures could bring chaos to a country since we primarily elect leaders to keep our nation safe. However, if the leader is gone, it brings a feeling of uneasiness and danger. When the most prominent leader is gone, people grow fearful because they are unsure of what would happen next, leading to a possibility of wars. Someone adds the idea that if a person gets away with murder, other people would start to think that they could get away with it too and they’ll attempt to do the same thing. 

Towards the end of the discussion we listed some assassinated leaders which included Julius Caesar, Alexander Litvinenko, Robert F. Kennedy, Princess Diana, John F. Kennedy, and Abraham Lincoln. We concluded the discussion with the final thought that the public becomes concerned when their leader is murdered. If someone could kill an important political figure, think of what harm they could inflict upon everyday citizens. 

Mind of a Criminal Activity:

After the do now discussion was over, we moved onto the “Mind of a Criminal” activity. Each team is presented with a chart that asks us to consider which emotions come with breaking the law and why they may occur. Below is a basic gist of what the different teams came up with in their discussions:

Before

Feelings of uneasiness because they are pondering over whether it’ll be a successful operation or would they get caught.

Heavy feelings of indecisiveness: “Should I do it?” This is an example that comes in the character Macbeth.

Anger/strong emotions, someone is fueled by negative emotions that convince someone to commit the crime.

Mentions of the Oj Simpson case: his book describes the details of his killing and his thought process behind it.

Feelings may be dependent on the criminal because someone who does killing for a living (an assassin) would not feel uneasiness but rather be numbed towards the feeling. On the other hand, someone new would be hesitant.

During

Feelings of “freedom” because you are physically committing the crime now and there is no more turning back

Feeling of excitement because the decision is finally happening and you can’t back out anymore.

Terrified because of the consciousness of what you’re doing (once again may depend on the criminal)

Focused on the task at hand. 

After

Most people might feel regretful or remorseful since they’ve physically ended someone’s life or committed a wrongdoing.

If someone executed a successful crime, however, they might feel ecstatic because they got away with it. In most cases, they may feel motivated to do it again. 

Macbeth Act II Scene I 

After this exchange of ideas, we proceeded to read act II scene I of Macbeth. We split up the roles of the characters that occur and different classmates acted out a certain character in the reading.

Summary + Analysis of this section:

https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/macbeth/section3/

After reading, Ms. Peterson asked the class a question on who Fleance is since the scene opens up with a conversation between Banquo and him. Fleance turns out to be Banquo’s son and the teacher points out how Fleance should be around our age (14-15 years old). 

Symbolisms + Soliloquy 

Our next activity was to identify the various symbolisms that occur in this scene of the book. Someone pointed out the various references of sleep or the lack of sleep. The difficulty of sleeping can be due to anxiousness or guilty conscience as seen when Macbeth had trouble resting at times. Additionally, it is quoted that Banquo says “Their candles are all out. Take thee that too. A heavy summons lies like lead upon me, and yet I would not sleep.” Banquo is bothered by the witches’ prophecy and asks Macbeth if he feels the same way too, to which Macbeth replies with a lie that he is not worried anymore or bothered by it anymore. Our group discusses that the dagger could be a potential symbol since Macbeth admires it in the form of a soliloquy (3rd soliloquy in Macbeth) and it basically alludes to the death of Duncan. 

Towards the end of Macbeth’s soliloquy, a bell rang which signals that Duncan is asleep and that his guards are drunk. The signal is made by a servant from Lady Macbeth. The scene ends with the quote “I go, and it is done. The bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell that summons thee to heaven or to hell.” With a close analysis of this quote, we conclude that a knell symbolizes the sound made by a bell that is rung slowly. This specific bell symbolizes death or funeral, foreshadowing the about-to-be death of King Duncan. Additionally, the last part highlights an important catholic tradition of the purgatory of sins. Typically, catholics would pray before they go to sleep so that they could free their conscience of guilt. However, if Duncan had not prayed before going to bed, he would be sinful resulting in his passage to hell. 

We then talked about what we thought the central idea of the soliloquy was. In short, we came to the conculsion that Macbeth is descenting into madness about committing the murder. He is possibly hallucinating when holding the dagger and he questions his sanity. The possibility of committing a murder is wrecking havoc inside his mind.

Allusions

This part of the scene include allusions to Hecate and The Rape of Lucrece. It is mentioned that Hecate is the Goddess of magic and witchcraft meaning she ultimately started the story (the witches influenced Macbeth in the first place). 

The Rape of Lucrece is about someone who is obsessed with someone else’s wife. They had very strong desires which, in some way, is similar to Macbeth’s desire for power. They are both willing to do whatever’s necessary to get the things they want. Similar to the person in Shakespeare’s poem, Macbeth is stalking Duncan in the same matter. An example of this is how he hopes that his footsteps won’t give him away as he moves closer to Duncan’s room. 

Reflection:

The focus of today’s lesson was cultivating our skills on forming connections based on what we read in Macbeth. We practiced connecting Macbeth to our everyday lives, historical events, as well as other works of literature. For example, in the do now, we connected the events in Macbeth to political murders and conflicts that occured. Macbeth is currently faced with the predicament of commiting murder against King Duncan, who is a prominent leader, in order to become king. This can be associated with our current world because there had been various assassinations of important political figures that affects our lives today. By discussing how these events had an impact on everyday citizens, we can better understand the weight of the problem on Macbeth's shoulders. Additionally, by making sense out of Shakespeare’s allusion to Hecate and the Rape of Lucrece, we can graspe how the events in Macbeth lead up to the very moment we read in act 2. Through this lesson, you learn about how forming various connections can enable you to better interpret the words and thoughts that Shakespeare is trying to convey through his writing. When forming these connections through team discussions in class, we essentially break down the complex of Shakespearean writing into simpler references that we all understand. This is an important skill to have for the future because forming connections is a huge part of our everyday lives. By utilizing and forming these connections, we can interpret events or difficult concepts into simpler terms that we can read.