Aim: How are the major symbols in Macbeth used to create allusions and connections?
Do Now: With your partner, construct a message to them (may be digital or pen/paper) by solely using images. Upon completion, exchange so you can see if you understand what the other conveyed.
Essentially, we tried to make symbols that would convey a message to our partners. Me and my partner, Mohamed made our very own images and tried to keep the connection to the book. I made a knife directed at a king, which then ended up as the knife being king. It wasn’t necessarily supposed to be direct, as you can imagine, but it was meant to convey the message of how odd the translation of power was during the times portrayed within Macbeth. Although it may have not been very clear, I think he got the message.
Next, we identified signifiers vs what is signified. Our definitions were:
Combined, the signifiers and signified create signs. We identified some of these signs that may come from the word freedom, such as the American flag, lady liberty, a bird flying away, etc.
We also identified what an allusion is:
Allusion is a brief and indirect reference within a literary work to a historical, literary, or biblical character, place or event, which is not explained.
An example of an allusion is “Wake up sleeping beauty”, which is a reference to a literary or classical allusion. Understanding these kinds of allusions will help us better understand the events and emotions portrayed in Macbeth, as Shakespeare wasn’t always very direct in conveying these messages.
The few different kinds of allusions most commonly used in literature are listed below if you would like to follow along:
Biblical allusions: referring to the Bible or a religious work
Classical allusions: referring to Classical Literature
Literary allusions: referring to another literary work
Historical allusions: referring to an event in history
Pair/Share Allusions from Macbeth as of yet
My Group:
Lady Macbeth, allusion to the garden of Eden
(Anton)
Macbeth, divine judgement, allusion to heaven/hell
(John Pierre)
Duncan, talks about heavens/angels
(Shi Lin)
Whole Class:
Garden of Eden
(Noah)
They were talking about dead men’s souls
(Marianna)
Many references to locations
(Mrs. Peterson)
Cat wants fish but doesn’t want to get paw wet, Lady Macbeth to Macbeth about wanting to be King but not having the guts to pull off the operation to become king.
(Mrs. Peterson)
As a conclusion of this pair/share activity, it can be seen that there are many allusions within the play Macbeth. Also, there are many allusions all around us, and one of the goals was to make us more aware of the plentiful amount of allusions.
Also, the symbolism that is specifically detailed towards Macbeth. It is attached below.
Day 2
*12/17/2021*
Aim: How are the major symbols in Macbeth used to create allusions and connections?
Do Now:
Why are people concerned with the details of political murders?
What dramatic killings have gripped the American people?
Here are some of my classmate’s answers:
People want to know what the motive of the killer was, because it can say what happens next for the country.
(John Pierre)
If someone can get to a person that is very protected, how easy can they get to us?
(Mrs. Peterson)
John F. Kennedy
(Elizabeth)
Abraham Lincoln
(Benjamin)
Martin Luther king jr.
(John Pierre)
Princess Diana
(Noah)
Next activity: Mind of a criminal
What kinds of feelings/emotions can be associated with someone committing an illegal act?
What is the emotional state of the person after committing the act?
My Group:
Very anxious before, during, and after
(Noah)
Delirium, hesitancy
(John Pierre)
Delusion, stress
(Anton)
Before very nervous, during very VERY excited, after stressed.
(Mohamed)
*I hope he meant because of adrenaline* -Me
Whole class:
Anxiousness, because you know there is a punishment
(Noah)
Angry, as to why they would be committing a crime
(Benjamin)
Tries to justify himself for committing such an act
(John Pierre)
Excited during the act, because of mainly adrenaline and thrill-seeking
(Crystal)
Shock after, because you can be trying to process what you just did, and paranoia for getting caught
(Elizabeth)
Sometimes you can have a strong sense of guilt
(Milana)
You can feel triumphant
(Lapyan)
Much more likely to do it again if they don't get caught
(Benjamin)
After this critical thinking activity, we started purposeful reading, which the instructions clarify that it is seeing symbols, allusions, etc. and noting what they may symbolize or allude to.
We even had our own little “cast” to read out the scene (Act 2, i Macbeth’s third and famous Soliloquy)
We had:
Milana as the narrator
Elizabeth as Fleance
Noah as Macbeth
Yanna as Banquo
Some of the symbols that stood out to my classmates and I were:
The clock displaying time until Duncan is dead
(Matthew)
Fleance is the one carrying the torch, symbolizing him as the good guy
(Mrs. Peterson)
All candles are out, so it is mostly dark, which represent evil
(Crystal)
The number 3 can be found as supernatural
(Mrs. Peterson)
“I am exhausted but I can’t sleep” symbolizes stress, foreshadowing something bad will be happening
(Matthew, Mrs. Peterson)
The point of the chiming bell is to signify when Lady Macbeth is supposed to kill Duncan
(Emily)
After reading, we interpreted the meaning of Macbeth’s famous third soliloquy, using Hecate and the rape of Lucrece as things to look out for in terms of direct references/allusions.
Supposedly, Hecate is the goddess of darkness, and the rape of Lucrece was an incident that outraged the Romans and got them to overthrow Lucius Tarquinius to establish the Roman Republic in 509 B.C.
This was how my class interpreted the soliloquy:
The dagger Macbeth is receiving is a hallucination
(Ahmad)
He starts to contemplate his sanity
(Mrs. Peterson)
A knell was wrung, which is a bell for when someone passes, which is a sign for Macbeth to kill Duncan
(Mrs. Peterson)
If Duncan has not prayed before Macbeth goes to kill him, he may be stuck in hell.
(Emily)
The main point of the lesson (part 1 and part 2) was to explore the feelings and emotions of Macbeth as he was supposed to kill the King, hence the question of the murder of political figures, the search for symbols within the play itself, the debate on committing illegal activities, and deep analyzation of the soliloquy and the rest of the section. I personally saw a lot of the emotions that went through Macbeth’s head as he had to kill the king that night. He may have felt nervous, but exhilarated at times, nauseous, even delirious. I must admit, killing a man must be no easy task to get over, especially killing a king, but Lady Macbeth has convinced him to live up to his want for the crown and commit murder. The aim of the lesson was to identify how major symbols can create things like allusions, and I think this pair of lessons did a good job of allowing us to analyze the connections that Shakespeare makes between his ideas and ideas outside of his work, which will allow us to have an even deeper understanding of Macbeth and future Shakespearean plays we will be reviewing.
No comments:
Post a Comment