Month: November 2020

Read It

Attribution through quotation: “The uncontrollable mystery on the bestial floor.” (p>
Block quotation: “If you can look into the seeds of time…” (paragraph 7, pg 388)

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Notebook

Review and Clarify

Kermode writes about how the witches’ chants p>
He also examines what the sisters mean when they say “Fair is foul, and foul is fair (391)”. He takes this to be a dark statement regarding how what some might find fair, others might find foul.

Kermode ties up this paragraph by arguing that Macbeth is ultimately about the interim between the present and the future. Once Macbeth has heard the prophecy, he can only focus on making it true; he wants the future to happen immediately. According to Kermode, the beginning of the play, when the witches give this prophecy, is the time during which the gap between the present and the prophesized future is the greatest. The dark language of the witches, with frequently alludes to what WILL be, emphasizes this large gap.

Practice

Percep>
Unambiguous: Since the waitress was uncertain whether the dish contained p>
Idiosyncratic: The director’s idiosyncratic use of colors and framing made his films instantly recognizable as his own.

Patterns of Word Changes

Irrational (change of meaning)- Brooks uses the word “irrational” in p>
Undoubted (change of meaning)- Kermode uses this word in p>
Ironical (change of p>
Antithetical (change of part of speech)- Kermode discusses “false antitheses” in the early parts of his essay, then uses the adjective form of “antithesis” (antithetical) later in his essay.

Comp>

Macbeth’s return to the Weird Sisters was ironic because he was returning to them with the intent of finding clarity and rationality in a situation that is inherently irrational.

Brooks writes that the child symbolizes the future, specifically a future that one cannot necessarily control. He also writes about how the child symbolizes what makes life meaningful and what makes us human.

brooks says that in the last prophecy Macduff represents the naked babe and when he told Macbeth that he was from “his mother womb/ untimely ripp’d” and then Macbeth had to confront his future and face his doom

Comp>

The “interim” refers to the time at which a violent act is decided upon and the time at which it actually takes place (e.g. one of the many murders in Macbeth).

Kermode points to thunder and lightning, won and lost battles, and “hurlies and burlies” as examples of “false antitheses” present in Macbeth.

When talking about the patterns present in Shakespeare’s work, Kermode emphasizes the characteristic rhythm with which his words flow (describing it as “hypnotic”) as well as his frequent use of contrasting words (lost and won, men or women, him and me, grow or not…). This frequent reference to these “opposite” words serve to highlight the play’s focus on the contrast between the present and the future.

Passage 1 (Brooks): Brooks’s essay focuses on analysing and ap>
Passage 2 (Kermode):
In Kermode’s essay, he discusses the specific characteristics of Shakespeare’s language and how his writing choices shape Macbeth. He talks specifically about how Shakespeare uses rhythm and contrasting words to drive home the main ideas of the play. He also analyzes the play’s focus on time, specifically about how the play centers around concerns about the future.

Read It

See solution for chart featuring type of figure of speech and analysis for passage excerpts.

Write It

1. …is like a tree’s green leaves in the sp>2. …always hurrying when it should be taking its time.
3. …is fame.

Why These Words

It will help>toil (noun): effort/work
assay (verb): to attemp>devise (verb): to p>
When looking at these definitions together, it seems that they share a common relation to effort/p>
Many of the poems relate to the idea of time being outside of our control. Because these words are tied to the idea of wanting to control something, they are in contrast with the poems’ themes.

Practice

Training to run a marathon, building a house, staying up all night to work on an essay

No; to assay simply means to attempt. Though you may do your best to complete the task, you may or may not actually be able to.

Yes; if you devise to do a task, your are planning to complete that task.

Word Study

mole: can either refer to a small mammal that lives underground, or to a scientific unit used for measuring molecules

culture: can refer to the customs/arts of a p>
medium: can refer either to something’s size, or to the liquid in which bacterial cells are cultured in labs

cell: can refer either to a small room for a prisoner, or to a small biological unit that makes up an organism

Sonnet 32

Time hurries when we are in love or experiencing joy, and slows down when we are heartbroken or in despair.

The speaker asks time to slow down when she is experiencing love rather than speeding up.

Sonnet 75

The name written in the sand is erased by the tide.

She says that, like a name written in the sand, she too will eventually cease to exist; neither she nor her name can be immortalized.

The speaker says that though no one can escape death, he and his love can be comforted by the fact that their love will live on.

Sonnet 12

He says that as the seasons change, time passes, and that as time passes, we all age. With age comes the loss of beauty; just as leaves fall and beautiful trees become bare, our hair becomes white and wrinkles form, etc.

The speaker says that the only defense against time is to have children, who will live on and continue your legacy after you’ve passed away.

Sonnet 60

He compares the passage of minutes to the movement of waves toward the shore.

He says that even though all lives are eventually lost to time, his poem will exist long after his death.

Sonnet 73

The speaker in the poem is nearing the end of his life.

The speaker advises that the reader takes time to love what they know they may soon lose.

Notebook

The LA Theatre Works help>
The Librivox recording is not as easy to understand intuitively. This information is given only through words (stage direction and dialogue), which are mostly unvaried. One must listen closely to understand the atmosphere of the situation.

The LA Theatre Works version is different than reading the play in that it does not include stage directions; it also includes more intense emotion than one might experience when reading the work. The Librivox recording is more similar to the text itself, but is perhaps a little faster-paced and flatter than one might read the scene.

Media Vocabulary

The librivox audio is very clear, and its quick pacing makes it a good listening choice for someone who is already familiar with Macbeth but wants to review parts of it.

The mood is established both through the ominous, ambient sound effects and the emotions of the actors delivering the dialogue.

The LA Theatre Works audio had better pacing. Unlike the Librivox recording, the actors delivered their lines with variations in the pace of their speech as well as pauses where natural. This helps the reader better understand the atmosphere of the situation and how the characters are feeling.

Comp>

The LA Theatre works production contains a low, resonant note, similar to tones one might hear during a tense part of a horror movie. The Doctor then begins to speak.

The dialogue in the LA Theatre Works production is much more natural than the Librivox dialogue.

Stage directions are included in the Librivox production.

The LA Theatre Works production contains sound effects.

The main difference between the two productions is that the LA Theatre Works audio is more immersive and feels more theatrical. The characters in this version display more emotion in their voice and are more believable overall; it seems like this version has higher production value than the Librivox production.

• Tags My Perspectives: British and World Literature Grade 12 Volume One, 9780133339635

Read It

a) lily-livered (p>whey-face (p>b) Both adjectives refer to the servant that Macbeth is arguing with. These compound adjectives make the servant seem weak and fearful.

Why These Words

Perturbation (anxiety), agitation (the act of disturbance), and usurp>Antidote (a cure; something that counteracts a poison), pristine (in perfect order), and purge (the removal of undesired qualities/individuals) all refer to the return to order. They each refer to the removal of disturbances.

Words relating to disorder: disease (p>Words relating to the return to order: undone (pg 337), cure (pg 339), cleanse (pg 340)

Practice

Perturbation: The nurse tried to ease Aaron’s p>
Antidote: Lisa was always careful to carry an antidote with her on hikes in case she was bitten by a venomous snake.

Agitation: Though she insisted she was calm, Henry could sense the agitation in his mother’s voice.

Pristine: The freshly cleaned hotel room was in p>
Purge: The drink was said to p>
Usurper: The town was distrustful of the new king, a usurper who had forcefully taken the throne.

Practice

See full solution for chart listing Macbeth’s tragic flaws + the actions that reveal these flaws.

In this scene, the audience is aware that Lady Macbeth is “ill” because of her guilt over her hand in the recent murders. Macbeth is also aware that this is the reason for her illness. The doctor does not know this, so is therefore unable to effectively treat her, yet Macbeth expects him to “cure” her somehow.