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Macbeth Audio Nodes
Audio of class discussions, lectures, and projects related to Shakespeare's Macbeth.
Macbeth: Lady Macbeth - Before and After - The Sleepwalking Scene and Before
This audio recording begins with the Folger's Shakespeare Set Free Activity - Lady Macbeth, Before and After. The students work on acting out Lady Macbeth as she was before Act V, and then read a similar line with all of the changes that she's undergone, from her sleepwalking scene. We then read and go over the sleepwalking scene in class.
19:36 minutes (13.47 MB)
Macbeth - Act V - A Final Discussion 2009
We pick up after Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene. Among other things we discuss Macbeth's two "D'oh!" moments - and the death of Lady Macbeth - Macbeth's downfall, and the coldness of Young Siward's father. Then we all applaud.
40:15 minutes (27.65 MB)
Four Sonnets by Shakespeare - A Personal View 2009
One of my favorite classes all year to teach. This year I finally moved from the overhead to Power Point - so I was a little nervous. We look at four Sonnets in depth - each based on a close textual ananlysis - uncovering one line at a time - and end with a very personal story about my own wedding and Sonnet 116.
40:21 minutes (27.71 MB)
Macbeth - The Acting Circle 2009
The acting circle - the second activity that we do with Macbeth (but before the students have read anything) is probably the most important thing that we will do for the entire unit. The activity comes directly from Michael Tolaydo and Shakespeare Set Free - and what we do is to take one small page from Macbeth and go over it - first for unknown words, then for meaning, then we act it out - until we come to an understanding of the text. It is the basis of any text-based classroom - the teacher facilitates the students questions and answers - but avoids giving any answers - and a
42:54 minutes (29.47 MB)
Macbeth - Act I - A class discussion 2009
We have actually covered a lot of Act I up to this point - well, if not a lot - certainly in depth - through our opening activities. Today we begin our in class reading - and we begin where the Three Weird Sisters enter. We talk about their meeting with Macbeth - his finding out the news - his wife's finding out the news - and his arrival at his castle - and how his wife begins to act upon him (or he upon himself for that matter).
37:23 minutes (25.69 MB)
Macbeth - Is This a Dagger? - Class Discussion of Act II - 2009
The class begins by having students act out the "Is this a dagger I see before me scene." As they do - after each performance, I ask them a few questions about what the words mean. We then do a read through of the rest of the murder scene up to (and including) the Porter's scene.
34:50 minutes (23.92 MB)
Macbeth - Portraying Subtext through Stress, Inflection, and Body Language
This class is completely based on the Folger's Shakespeare Set Free - and if you don't have the book yet I urge you to get it. We begin by talking about denotation and connotation - and then we ask how can you portray different ideas (a subtext) in a play without changing the words. We go through some methods - using stress on different words, inflecting, and adding body movement. We then talk about the idea of subtext - and how a play can be completely changed through it.
32:50 minutes (22.55 MB)
Macbeth Act IV - The Murder of Macduff's Family - 2009
We begin the class discussion by ending a few loose notes on Act III (the number of murderers, mainly). Then we go out to the bridge and use sound effects to act out the witches scene with Macbeth (at the end of Act IV) - the students then act out the warnings and apparitions. We go back into the classroom and read aloud the scene between Lady Macduff and her son. Finally, we watch Roman Polanski's version of that same scene.
44:08 minutes (30.31 MB)
Macbeth: Lady Macbeth - Before and Now - and the sleepwalking scene
We begin with an activity from the Folger's Shakespeare Set Free - they put together two lines - a before and after line for Lady Macbeth showing how much she has changed over the course of the play. Students work in partners (or trios) - research, then rehearse the lines - and then perform them for the class - with some brief discussion between students. We then read and discuss the entire scene.
22:11 minutes (10.15 MB)
Macbeth - Act V - after the sleepwalking scene - A class discussion and reading
A reading and class discussion of everything after the sleepwalking scene - including Macbeth's "Life is a tale told by an idiot," monologue - and of course the end of the play.
39:54 minutes (18.27 MB)
Macbeth - Act III, scene 2 - a class reading and discussion
It has been a long time since Macbeth - due to the winter break - but here we are back at it again. Only one scene to read - but there is so much here. Macbeth and his wife are changing - and their "partnership" is evolving. A lively and informative class discussion.
19:49 minutes (9.07 MB)
Macbeth - Act II - through the Porter's Scene
First the students act out - "Is this a dagger I see before me." The handout for doing this exercise can be found here. After they perform the soliloquy, we talk about it - then jump right into the Act. The murder is about to be committed and the tensions are high. We then read the murder scene, talk about a surprising turn on Lady Macbeth's part - and somehow make it to the Porter's scene.
34:48 minutes (15.93 MB)
Macbeth - Act I scene 4 thru end of the act - period 9
Lady Macbeth receives the letter from her husband - and then he arrive and they begin to plot Duncan's demise. We take turns reading the script (in my class a student owns the character for a page - then we go on to a next reader for that character when we get to the next page). Duncan arrives and notes how lovely everything seems.
44:28 minutes (20.36 MB)
Macbeth - Act I scene 4 thru end of the act - period 7
A class reading and discussion through the end of the first Act of Macbeth. When there is more than one class recorded - as there is in this case - I find it fascinating to see the difference in the pace and specificity that a discussion brings.
43:11 minutes (19.77 MB)
Macbeth - An Opening Acting Circle - period 8
For this activity I have recorded and posted all three periods that we did it with. Essentially, we put ourselves in a circle and the students have a script with no directions for Act I, scene 1. We then go around taking turns reading till each student gets to terminal punctuation (then the next student reads). The first time - they circle words they don't know - then we see how we can figure out the words' meaning. Next we go around and read it one more time - this time the students writing down every comment and question that they can get from just the text (withou
40:16 minutes (18.44 MB)
