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Titel
4
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Macbeth (SL/HL #4)
Work:
Macbeth by William Shakespeare (wr. c. 1606) (drama)
Description:
Discussions of this work mainly center around Macbeth as the protagonist of the play, the role of Lady Macbeth and her relationship to Macbeth, as well as the role of relevant themes throughout the play.
Thematic keywords include gender, power, and ambition.
Background knowledge includes:
1) A brief introduction to language history with a focus on relevant characteristics of Early Modern (i.e. Shakespearean) English, as well as "original pronunciation" (i.e. David and Ben Crystal's recreation of Shakespearean English).
") A brief introduction to Elizabethan perceptions of the world (exploration, cultural renaissance, and the "Great Chain of Being"/chaos and cosmos).
Several analytical terms have been introduced or re-introduced in this topic:
Genre aspects: tragedy characteristics
Plot models by Aristotle, Freytag, and Todorov; the concepts of hamartia/tragic flaw, tragic/dramatic irony, hubris/nemesis, and comic relief.
Characteristics of form and terms relating to drama
Acts, lines, scenes; stage directions; monologue, soliloquy, dialogue; prose, blank verse, rhymed verse.
Sonnet characteristics and terms
Stanza, rhyme, rhythm, meter, feet; couplets and quatrains; volta; iambic pentameter.
Poetical terms
Enjambment, anaphora, allusion, alliteration, assonance, consonance, symbol, metaphor, simile, personification.
Aims of the topic:
This topic is a part of a classroom project on student engagement, which has been presented to the students through a TOK reflection session. Core aspects of this project include an awareness of methodology, with emphasis on the role of repetition and the hermeneutic circle especially in literary analysis, the role of active listening especially in discussions, the learning pit, as well as the role of deep attention/"fordybelse" and flow in learning in general.
Work has centered around several distinct stages, emphasizing the cyclical nature of analysis:
1) Introduction to the topic: relevant background is introduced and worked with.
2) First meeting with the text: class screening of The Royal Shakespeare Company's 2018 adaptation (feat. Christopher Eccleston).
3) Second meeting with the text: class table read of the entire play, including drama exercises.
4) Third meeting with the text: group/independent analysis of key scenes (1.5, 1.7, 2.1, 2.2, 3.4, 5.1, and 5.5), each worksheet featuring two-three rounds of analysis with an emphasis on returning to the text multiple times.
5) Broader perspectives: synthesis and discussion of analysis and the play as a whole, in the form of a half-class discussion.
Area of exploration in focus:
Readers, writers, and texts
The topic has focused on these AOE questions:
Why and how do we study language and literature?
How are we affected by texts in various ways?
In what ways is meaning constructed, negotiated, expressed and interpreted?
How does language use vary amongst text types and amongst literary forms?
How does the structure or style of a text affect meaning?
How do texts offer insights and challenges?
TOK corner:
The topic has focused on these questions:
What do we learn about through literature? What role does literature fulfill? What is its purpose?
How much of the knowledge we construct through reading a literary text is determined by the writer’s intention, the reader’s cultural assumption and by the purpose valued for the text in a community of readers?
Are some interpretations of a literary text better than others? How are multiple interpretations best negotiated?
What constitutes good evidence in explaining a response to literature?
This topic is furthermore a part of a classroom project on student engagement. See more under the aims of this topic.
ATL skills in focus:
Thinking and self-management skills in analysis sessions.
Communication and social skills in group work and class discussions.
Literature "Concepts" in focus:
Identity
Culture
Creativity
Communication
Perspective
Learner Profile traits in focus:
Inquirers
Knowledgeable
Thinkers
Communicators
Open-minded
Risk-takers
Reflective
Assessment:
Paper 1 practice
Preparation for end-of-year exam (paper 1)
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