Wednesday/Thursday Homework

For Wednesday/Thursday,  Don't Forget . . .

• Picking a scene thus far in two of your 2 favorite versions of Macbeth, focus on the interrelation of the various elements of drama, focusing on the element that you feel is most important for THAT version (e.g. the performance of the actor in Polanski's version Macbeth in Act II Scene i does what for setting, dialogue, character, plot).

• Pay close attention to Macbeth's soliloquy from Act II Scene i concerning his resolve to kill Duncan.  Using the rhythm and meter sections of the Elements of Poetry (in the Poetry readings folder), break down what makes this soliloquy iambic pentameter and bring a stress/unstressed breakdown of the following (hint: there are some useful guides online):

Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?

Then address WHY the verse matters (compared to say Scotland, PA's use of American, contemporary dialect or even other characters, such as the Porter in the following scene).

Be ready to audition for the part of Macbeth in class (we will do the same for Lady Macbeth in Act V in case you want to wait for a female role, but this will be participation points, so you should read for one or the other).

The additional reading for Wednesday/Thursday is the first article by William Proctor Williams in the Sourcebook Macbeth entitled "In Production: Macbeth Through the Years." This was mentioned in my Monday class but not my Tuesday classes, but I want you to bring a work cited entry for this article based on MLA Guidelines.  If you do not have a print copy of the book, use the PDF files in the Macbeth Sourcebooks & Other Periodical Articles folder to get the necessary information and then ASSUME that you are using a print copy.  We will go over how to document sources on the course page later.  If you do not know how document an article from a book (often called an "anthology"),  consult your handbook or the Bedford Research and Documentation Online site.