Act 2 Macbeth Study Guide

1.The opening gives a sense of forboding, things are not as they should be. The discussion serves to have Banquo acknowledge the weird sisters rather than claim they are a hallucination.
2. Macbeth is extremely stressed about having to Duncan and he is attempting to talk himself into committing the deed. He talks about it as if he is in a haze, a dream and he continues by making it a reality and committing the deed.

2..2
1. Lady Mac's state of mind is kind of heartless because of the focus she is putting into the task at hand. She has drugged the guards that stand at Duncan's chambers and put daggers in their hands to frame them as the murderers of Duncan. Lady Mac is assuming that Macbeth is in the act of killing Duncan and she didn't do it herself because she didn't want the guards to wake up and see her.
2. Macbeth has done the dirty deed of killing Duncan. Macbeth has a moment of self reflection as he looks at his bloodstained hands holding the dagger. He guiltily comments about his actions and worries that Donalbain heard the ruckus. Lady Mac replies by saying Macbeth shouldn't be so childish and scared. The problem that arises is that Macbeth thinks he heard a voice say that he would be killed for what he did. Lady Mac tries to calm him down and rationalize the situation.

2.3

2.3 1) The porter, in the third scene of act ii, is drunk and is pretending to be the Porter of the gate to hell. In the play, Macbeth has the trait of equivocation, where he manipulates his listener by circumlocution and the expectations of the other person without actually committing. For example, he does this when Lady Macbeth asks him to kill King Duncan.
2) The thematic function of Lennox describing the night as unruly was because that night was when King Duncan was killed by Macbeth. It was "unruly" not only for King Duncan but also for Macbeth because the guilt and fear of getting caught will always make him say and do things that might be suspicious, dark, and unruly. The scene is necessary to show Macbeth's transformation from the character before the murder vs. the character after the murder. This also connects back to what the witches had said earlier in the play: Fair is foul and foul is fair.
3) Macduff reports that the king has been murdered. Lady Macbeth appears to be horrified that this act could take place on his household. Macbeth is in encaged and kills the chamberlains. Malcolm and Donalbain decide to flee Malcolm and will go to England and Donalbain will go to Ireland. They're fleeing because they fear they will be murdered.

2.4

1. The function of the dialogue between Old Man and Ross is to discuss the strange happenings that have been occurring such as how an owl killed a falcon, the horses went wild and are one another, and several other things.  This wicked behavior symbolizes and foreshadows the promotion of Macbeth to the thrown. 

2. Macduff tells us from the castle that Macbeth has been made king by his fellow lords and that he will travel to Scone to receive the promotion and get crowned. He tells us that Malcolm and Donalbain are suspected of the murder of Duncan. They are suspected because they fled the scene. 

Macbeth

Imagine how the plot, theme and tone of Macbeth would be different if Macbeth could gain more power by becoming good at something or learning something, rather than benefiting through another's loss. 

Macbeth in the play, just like the prompt says, gains power from another's loss. With him becoming king by doing something courageous or brilliantly, yes absolutely he would have a completely different insight on "life" itself. By having something positive impact your life, you honestly have a different look on things surrounding your attitude/morals. What if a huge dragon came and conquered the whole town while killing the king? What if Macbeth killed the dragon and saved the world? He would inherit the throne by earning it and would give him and most importantly Lady Macbeth a more humble attitude with their "ego". Let's keep in mind this is one Shakespeare's tragedies and nothing works out in good thoughts. 

San Diego State Bound!!!!!

So incredibly excited to say San Diego State University will be my home for the next 4+ years! But really.... I'M GOING TO COLLEGE! Toured the school last weekend and absolutely fell in love! A campus and area couldn't be more perfect for me:) Sitting here and thinking back on high school, I am so glad I pushed myself the way I did. Most people aren't fortunate to be able to live this experience so I will 10000% be privileged to do this with nothing taken for granted. Thank you to all my teachers for helping me accomplishing my goal and well as my friends and MOST importantly my parents for the brilliant job they have done with my life :) Nothing but huge smiles upon my face while posting this and I am so happy! See you in 4 months SDSU! #GoAztecs 

Tomorrow, Tomorrow & Tomorrow...

Macbeth:

She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

Macbeth Act 1 Notes

*Quick lecture notes while Preston was talking

Act 1 Scene 1
-Macbeth is going to have a rise to power
-Fair is foul? Foul is fair?
-Weird back in the old day was future seekers
The sisters
Act 1 Scene 2
-The bloody captain proves exposition on Hamlet.
-Macbeth kills Mcdonwald and bloody captain praised him on that.
-Mcdonwald was lesser than him.
-Ross and Angus said that MacBeth was the traitor.
Act 1 Scene 3:
-He's reinforcing what the witches had said. Repetition on the word "do".
-Macbeths reaction to the witches proficey as he thought it was true. Banquel doesn't believe the witches proficey and not going to be supportive to anything the witches say.
Act 1 Scene 5:
-He doesn't refer them to witches he refers to them as sisters. He doesn't tell Lady Macbeth the whole truth. Macbeth wants to impress her in the letter. She says you wanna be the king? Well kill the king.
-She's not scared of the witches her goal and all she wants to do is kill the king
-Lady MacBeth is fearless
-Lady MacBeth to make her plan possible ( to kill the king) she needs to remove the the "lady" side of her and to cut me off of my conscience (which in the case she needs to not feel guilty)
-She coaches MacBeth into killing the king.
Act 1 Scene 7:
-The only reason he's thinking about killing King Duncan is his ego
-Lady MacBeth is telling MacBeth he's being a sissy. "Man up"
-Lady MacBeth is a crazy bitch.
- The dagger is a huge symbol in the play. The dagger symbolizes betrayal, violence and murder.

Character Map

Thought this character map was visualized well and perfect for the blog! Viewer friendly and helped me understand who was connected to who! 

Love Is Blind

Macbeth sees his wife as his holder of the world. Macbeth treasures that women and loves her dearly. Lady Macbeth in his eyes is the most intelligent women there is and does whatever she pleases him to do, even if the task is extremely obscured. Lady Macbeth in my eyes and most other readers views is that she is a controlling *bitch* who cares nothing about anything but her ego. Dob't get me wrong Macbeth is the same exact way, but Lady Macbeth is a thousand times worse. Lady Macbeth is hated by the audience and pushes her husband into doing things he knows he shouldn't be doing. Love is an EXTREMELY powerful thing. 

Act 1 Study Questions

Act 1 Study Questions ( Done as a class)

1) Beginning the play with a dialogue between the witches sets the mood to be dark, evil, and mysterious. This foreshadows the plot, theme, and mood for the future of the story in the same manner. In comparison of Shakespeare's other plays, Macbeth requires more ambiguity and the syntax and diction used needs to be more bleak. For example, Hamlet highlighted the themes of betrayal and complexity of relationships and power. Even though, the theme falls in the same ballpark with Macbeth, the gloominess of the plot of Macbeth overpowers that of Hamlet. In the beginning of the play, the witches were going to meet Macbeth at the "ere of sunset." Line 10 was "Paddock calls" and line 11 was "Anon." The phrase paddock class means a toad, which symbolizes transformation. The word anon means soon or shortly. The "toad" and it's transformation could metaphorically be compared to Macbeth and his evolving and transforming to be a completely different person or even having a transformation in his status and power. The witch's response as anon signifies how Macbeth will shortly have a transformation - to be declared a thane. 

Scene 2:

1. The bloody seargent indirectly characterizes Macbeth by glorifying his actions towards Macdonwald. Macdonwald is a rebel who was executed. He tried to attack them. Macbeth executed macdonwald with his sword. This did not end the fight with the rebels, the Norwegians are still attacking.
2. The traitor was the Thane of Cawdor, as we learn from Ross. Duncan says that its a relief the thane of cawdor was executed and that Macbeth now owns his previous title.

Scene 3:

1. The witches speech gives a first look at Macbeth and his wife without saying who they are. Indirect characterization of the two. Similar to Hamlet where he gives a mini synopsis early in the story. "Weird" in Shakespeare's day meant future seers not weird as we know it, prophecy and destiny. Shakespeare means that Macbeth's wife has him by the balls. They  cast a spell to control his destiny.
2. Macbeth says something very similar to what the witches said at the beginning of the play. This could be him falling into the destiny the witches set up. Dried, chapped fingers, gender ambiguity, hairy, old, they have literal beards. The witches tell Macbeth that he will thane of Candor and eventually King, right then he finds out he is thane of Cawdor. Banquo asked the witch why they had nothing for him, they told him he is lesser but greater than Macbeth. We knew he was thane before he was thane.
3. Banquo says the witches were a figment of their imagination that they lie or that they are hallucinating. Macbeth learns that he is thane of Cawdor from Ross and Angus. During lines 114-156 he was going over his plan in his head and how everything had just happened to him. He acts very happy and shows no incredulity at being thane. Macbeth's aside shows him rationalizing what happened to him and he begins to think that he is going to be King soon. Macbeth tells Banquo that he is happy and excited and nothing more he explains his behavior by saying he is confused.

Scene 4:

1.Cawdor was executed after openly confessing his treason and pleading for mercy. Malcolm tried to stick up for the thane, but the king responds by basically saying that you can't trust a man according to his face. He doesn't believe the thane was truly repentant.

2.The king greets them by saying that he can never repay them enough for their good deeds, but announces he will leave all his estate and names his son, Malcolm, prince of Cumberland. He then proposes that they go to Macbeth's castle at Inverness. Macbeth tells himself that the only way to be king is to get rid of Malcolm, and even though he'll be appalled at his action, he must do it.

Scene 5:

1. Macbeth was honest with his wife when he informs her of his new title as "Thane of Cawdor." He refers to the witches as "weird sisters" probably because he doesn't want her know that he is associated with the "evil servants."

Lady Macbeth responds by saying that she thinks Macbeth is playng things off as if everything is fine. By saying "but be the serpent under't", she describes him as someone that lies to make everything appear under control. This doesn't really match the characterization of Macbeth so far in the story which implies that there is something the audience doesn't know about him. 

2. The wife was confident about the guests visit. She also seemed prepared and a little cocky about the way her and her husband would handle it.

3. Lady Macbeth. Yes she wants to kill Duncan. No, he isn't sure whether he wants to follow through with Lady Macbeths orders or not. She tells him not to let Duncan see tomorrow. 

4. The question appears to answer itself. 

Scene 6:

1. The opening speeches (1.6.1-10) describe how the surroundings of the castle are "pleasant" and the air is sweet-maybe even too sweet. From the outside, the castle appears to be paradise.
Lady Macbeth's welcome is formal. Her language is totally different from her language in the previous scene which shows how fake and dishonest her welcome was.

Scene 7:

1. "If it were done when 'tis done then 'twere well." If it were done when it was done it was done well. (Meaning if he completed the death quickly and efficiently and with no complications then he did the job well.) Macbeth is determined to kill the king and be done with him but in lines 1-12 he is fearful of how the "inventor" will judge his actions. He's violating the hospitality of his kinship and responsibilities as a host towards his guest by trying to kill his guest instead of protecting them. The motivation that Macbeth attributes to himself in lines 25-28 is the attribute of an Arabic heaven-like God. He will be seen as a "God" and that is his source of motivation to get the job done. 

2. In lines 28-30 she is complaining about him leaving the chamber because it was  almost time for dinner. Macbeth responds to her complaining by saying did he ask for me? And lady Macbeth says don't you know he did? The positions are lady Macbeth is ready for the King to be killed while Macbeth is still hesitant and on the fence about it. Macbeth convinced Lady Macbeth by explaining that he is an respected person and doesn't want to lose his honor while Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth by convincing him to gain the power and kill the king. The stronger person in the scene is Lady Macbeth because  she's more verbally confident in her argument while convincing Macbeth to kill the King. 

Meet Macbeth!

How is Macbeth introduced through in/direct characterization?
Macbeth is introduced indirectly through a speech given by the sergeant. He is introduced as a brave and courageous war hero who, although, gets more attention than the other noblemen.

What elements of foreshadowing do the witches provide?
"Fair is foul, and foul is fair." This quote is spoken by the witches throughout the play and it hints/foreshadows the entire play for the reader. It foreshadows that good/fair things in life will not always be necessarily good and that the bad things will not always be bad.

How does Shakespeare's approach to exposition give the reader background information about the setting and characters and a sense of what's to come without spoiling the play?
In the exposition, the witches say that Macbeth will jump up two positions from the position he is in presently. This indicates that the two individuals who currently hold those two higher positions are somehow not only going to lose their position but die sometime during the play.

How does Shakespeare's characterization of Macbeth reflect a sense of tone (i.e., the author's attitude toward the character/s, audience, and/or subject matter)?
Shakespeare's characterization of Macbeth gives the reader the sense that he thinks very highly of Macbeth and that Macbeth is a royal man but in this tone he made it seem like Macbeth will experience a downfall and possibly become very disliked later on in the play. The authors tone is one that foreshadows and is constantly sarcastic/hinting to the reader that its not going to end in the way they expect it to. The genre of Macbeth is tragedy, so its tone is predominantly dark and depressing. The characterization of Macbeth reflects a tone of mishap and danger sometimes from his telling of events through violence

What themes appear evident in Macbeth's character and conduct? To what extent do you think these themes will drive the rest of the play?
The themes that appear evident in the short bit we read today of Macbeth's character and conduct are chaotic ambition, mysteries with violence endings, and the presence of danger. These themes drive Macbeth insane and cause him to murder the king by the end of the play. They also, on the other hand, show that Macbeth is a character of honor and royalty.

My Macbeth Resources

5 Resources that I think will be useful and helpful to myself when reading Macbeth:

• http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/macbeth/
• https://theshakespearecode.wordpress.com/shakespeare-in-scotland-macbeth-decoded/
• http://www.aresearchguide.com/macbeth.html
• http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/m/macbeth/macbeth-at-a-glance
• http://nfs.sparknotes.com/macbeth/

Spring Break Work: Poetry

Poem: Woman Work by Maya Angelou 
1998 Poem: “It's a Woman's World” (Eavan Boland)
Prompt: The following poem was written by a contemporary Irish woman, Eavan Boland. Read the poem carefully and then write in which you analyze how the poem reveals the speaker’s complex conception of a “woman's world.”

Woman's work has powerful meaning and deception behind its complex content. It's very obvious and clear that a woman had written this poem just by the tone and mood you feel from reading the lines off the page. (I had recently posted the poem down below in another post FYI to reference back on)  Being a woman is one of the hardest things in the world and Maya Angelou, the author, emphasizes on that. She chose the words she did to put emphasis on the continuous ever lasting list of chores we need (as women) need to accomplish everyday. "I've got the floor to mop, the food to shop, the chicken to fry, the baby to dry....... I've got company to feed, the garden to weed.." Reading this poem can be entirely relateable not only as a woman but as a male himself because they do pick up on all these things and sit there to think to theme selves "You know women really do a lot." The speakers complex diction also was significant in lines 
"Shine on me sunshine, rain on me rain, fall soft on me dew drops, and cool my brow again." Not only is she finally expressing her fatigue and exhaustedness, she's stating that she wants and needs a break after all the hard work she had just miraculously accomplished. This poem is highly powerful in a way where when taking a woman's hard work for granted is childish. Play the role, even as children and not just men, on appreciating all the things women do in their life to satisfy the needs of others. Nothing well earned in life comes easy.

Homework or baseball?

As you can tell baseball got the upper hand in this match lol went to yet another baseball game this break! The San Diego Padres (who my cousin plays for which is supppper cool) and the San Francisco Giants! Padres took the win of course, but really what view can get better than this? 

Spring Break Work: Young Goodman Brown Essay

  In Nathan Hawthorne's short story "Young Goodman Brown" the main character faces situations and battles where he is then left to struggle with the outward existence which conforms and the inward life which questions. Deciding which path you take defines your character and yourself as a person and that's why this may be very difficult to many individuals. Just like the novel "Brave New World" Young Goodman Brown has an inward battle with himself about sacrificing individuality in pursuit of social acceptance. Hawthorne throughout this story focuses on the theme surrounding what he sees as the corruptibility that results from Puritan society’s emphasis on public morality, which often weakens private religious faith.Young Goodman Brown is forced to question whether or not the forces surrounding him are good or evil and at the same time abandon his own personal faith and morals.
   
    Goodman Brown’s religious beliefs are rooted in his belief that those around him are also religious. Although Goodman Brown has decided to come into the forest and meet with the devil, he still hides when he sees Goody Cloyse and hears the minister and Deacon Gookin. He seems more concerned with how his faith appears to other people than with the fact that he has decided to meet with the devil.Young Goodman Brown is portrayed by Hawthorne as a flat, static character. Because the reader does not visualize or comprehend any shifts in the behaviors or qualities of Goodman, one can state that Goodman is a stable character who struggles internally. He fights his inward questioning on a kind of faith, which depends so much on other people’s views, is easily weakened. When Goodman Brown discovers that his father, grandfather, Goody Cloyse, the minister, Deacon Gookin, and Faith are all in league with the devil, Goodman Brown quickly decides that he might as well do the same. Hawthorne seems to suggest that the danger of basing a society on moral principles and religious faith lies in the fact that members of the society do not arrive at their own moral decisions.

    Goodman Brown loses his innocence because of his inherent corruptibility, which suggests that whether the events in the forest were a dream or reality, the loss of his innocence was unavoidable. Instead of being corrupted by some outside force, Goodman Brown makes a personal choice to go into the forest and meet with the devil; the choice was the true danger, and the devil only facilitates on Goodman Brown’s fall. Due to Young Goodman pursuing the journey, he collapsed to the evil and darkness of sin. His inward questioning resulted in a complete transformation and gravitational pull to the evil sins possessed by the Devil himself. Young Goodman Brown did indeed fact struggle with the outward conformity with inward questioning. Brown abandoned his personal faith and morals to follow an even deeper spirit. This resulted in the Devil concluding he may have had his resting faith and light of heaven reaching out to him, Goodman faithless life that will forever be corrupted by sin.

Blog Feedback

Here's the post to comment on with your opinions for the Blog Tournament! Please feel free to be as honest as possible, but first let me say when we get an assignment I may not do all of them, but the ones I do in fact choose to do I really put all my effort in. 
Most importantly I do have a life other than school :) Comment on! 

Literary Analysis

Title: Brave New World
Author: Aldous Huxley

Summary 

Brave New World takes place in London, where the generations of man are artificially created in hatcheries and bred to become who they are destined to be through a caste system that works much like the educational grading system. Through following Henry Ford's "assembly line" lifestyle, the character, Bernard tries to break away from his society. He meets John at a "savage" reservation with his mother. John is brought back to the World State to cope with his ancestry, but cannot change who he is and adapt to his new environment, making him immoral in the eyes of his peers and Mustapha Mond, their district leader. He falls in love with Lenina but cannot express it the way he wants to. John eventually freaks out, which causes disruption to the society's happiness, which then forces Mustapha Mond to exile Bernard along with his friend, Helmholtz, and John exiles himself some distance from the World State. People visited the "Savage," Lenina visited him later, they had an orgy, John lost himself to the society and killed himself the moment he realized it.
THEME:-The major theme of all dystopian novels is the imperfection that arises from perfection. On the surface, societies of a dystopian novel functions perfectly, but there is everything wrong in the eyes of a free thinker. Society will crumble through systematic routine. It is unnatural to suppress free thought or action. With perfection comes a human life that isn't worth living. Huxley through this novel warned us preaching through characters and the theme to not sacrifice your individuality in pursuit of social acceptance, because once you lose your individual imperfections you lose the basis of humanity.
TONE:
- Huxley's tone is very scientific and hypothetical throughout. A very factual and straight-forward science fictional author, Huxley gave the mechanical World State a type of truthful reality that almost broke the fourth wall while reading his work.

Literary Techniques

Symbolism of zippers: It represents the easy accessibility of anything a human can indulge in, most specifically sex. But world state citizens regularly rely on drugs and sex to get through their days.
Allusion: There are many allusions from Shakespeare's Hamlet, The Tempest, and Romeo Juliet. John the Savage frequently quotes all of these works, and including the Bible, when he is under great emotional states of mind.
Allusion/play on names: Almost all of Huxley's characters have significance attached to the names of each person in the novel. Ex.) Lenina Crowne ----> Vladimir Lenin (Russian Revolution leader) / Bernard Marx ----> Karl Marx (Russian Revolution leader) / Benito Hoover ----> Benito Mussolini & Herbert Hoover
Onomatopoeia: "buzz buzz" pg 147. "zip" The buzzing refers to the bee hive and it helps the reader understand the dynamics behind The World State. Citizens are like little worker bees."Zip" see above.
Parallelism: "They swarmed between the beds, clambered over, crawled under, peeped into the television boxes, made faces at the patients."

Metaphor: Mustapha Mond's pipe metaphor about human pleasures
Pun: the "World State" can be read as the "World's State" of being
Motif: Ford serves as a motif to remind the reader of where the World State's vision comes from. It works hand in hand with the allusion but plays along in religious context such as "Year of our Ford" instead of "Year of our Lord."
Symbolism: Soma symbolizes artificial happiness

Characterization 

Direct Characterization for Bernard: "The mockery made him feel an outsider; and feeling an outsider he behaved like one, which increased the prejudice against him and intensified the contempt and hostility aroused by his physical defects." Here Huxley comes right out and says the characteristics of Bernard
Direct Characterization of Helmholtz "...Helmholtz Watson had also become aware of his difference from the people who surrounded him." Again, similar to Bernard, Helmholtz is stated as an outsider.
Indirect Characterization of John the Savage: When he chooses to reject Lenina from having sex shows that he is the complete opposite from the world state citizens. He feeling that having sex before marriage is wrong, and even the idea of marraige is foreign to the World State.
Indirect Characterization of Henry: When he flies extremely close to the ocean, it shows that he secretly is also against the World State ideals. It is very hard to be different because everyone else is socially conditioned to think the same way and you are punished if you think any differently.
Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character? How? Example(s)?
"Anywhere. I don't care. So long as I can be alone,"
"But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, i want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin,"
In these two examples we see a shift in the syntax of John the Savage's speech. Instead of speaking in eloquent sentences, his speech becomes short and almost exasperated. It conveys a quickened pace and it almost seems as if he is out of breath. I think it reflects that there is so much running though his mind that all of his senses are overloading and it is all too difficult to process. He misses his old joys in life, such as reading and his freedom, but now the only way to escape is ending his own life.
Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or round? Explain.
For this question, I will choose to analyze John the Savage. He is a dynamic character that transforms to his demise by the end of the novel. One characteristic remains constant, his quality of being an outsider.
After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character? Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.
I felt that I read a book that peeked into what the future holds for our world. Looking at Bernard and John the Savage, I feel that they are two characters that are written in a way that enables the reader to feel as if they are actual people. They are the two characters that most resemble humans today, since all other World State Citizens are so "cookie cutter perfect." John deduces meaning from the works of literature he studies religiously and is able to apply it to his life experiences. Whereas other characters such as Lenina and the DHC are just carbon copies of all other previous humans that were produced on a conveyor belt.

Spring Break!

Started off my last Spring Break baseball style! We had a softball tournament Wednesday- Saturday so we decided to make the most out of it by attending a rival game after ours! Most of our team was Dodger fans, but it's pretty obvious who the better softball players were... (The ones who were Angel fans because they kicked ass duh;) lol. More activities to come this week!