My Perspectives: British and World Literature Grade 12, Volume One-page 312-Answers

Practice

Rising Action Events:
In Act 1, the rising action event consists of Macbeth deciding to kill the King after speaking to his wife and hearing the prophecy of the witches.

Rising Action Events:
In Act II, the rising action mainly entails Macbeth killing King Duncan. His sons react, and the people of the castle talk of ominous symbols and harrowing predictions.

Rising Action Events:
During Act III, the conflict rises even further when Macbeth tries to kill Duncan’s children to secure his prophecy. He fails (only killing one of them) and his guilt takes the form or an apparition of Banquo himself.

The events are linked by cause and effect because Macbeth’s actions are directly influenced by the events before them. Due to the prophecy made at the beginning of Act I, the events in Acts II and III are effects of Macbeth’s desire to make the prophecy come true (or subsequently avoid the negative effects of the witch’s predictions, such as the rise to power of Banquo’s son). Macbeth acts with motivations to influence his own future. An example of this is the need to kill Banquo because he had already killed the King and the prophecy warned of Duncan’s bloodline.

Crisis/Turning Point of Act III:
The turning point of Act III is when the ghost of Banquo appears as a vision to Macbeth while he is gathered with his friends. This event leads those with him to suspect him of malice and his facade is broken. During this scene he is at his weakest and most vulnerable, and those close to him start suspecting his guilt and planning attack.

Predictions:
The reader might predict that Macbeth will have a downfall in the coming acts. He seems to be on the verge of his lies catching up with him, and his state of being crumbling. Most likely, the actions of Macbeth will begin to cause him tragedy.