Macbeth Characters - PosterMyWall Revision

With the Leaving Cert English exam now in touching distance, hopefully many pupils are making their final preparations for the exam.Macbeth was the Shakespearean choice for Single text at Higher Level and it promises to be as popular a choice as ever with pupils this year. With that in mind, over the coming week I will be posting a series of revision posters on Macbeth's central characters. Each poster will be covering the key quotes, moments and themes related to that character. I have no doubt that you studied Macbeth in a very in-depth manner with your teacher but it is, sadly, simply impossible to show everything you know about the play on the day. Just because you remember three quotes from Macduff does not mean they need to be shoe horned into the question. Know your characters. Know their major moments, motivations, themes they represent and major quotes. Then you can stay flexible to whatever question you get asked on the day and really specifically answer what you were asked. NO SUMMARIES! Finally, I would suggest that you have a list of words and phrases you would associate with each character. Having the correct adjective or verb to describe a particular moment is not going to suddenly jump into your head during the exam. Again don't shoe horn the use of these words into your essay. Use these words as needed. Make sure you are comfortable and clear with using these phrases. Practice the use of such phrases in essay work with your teacher.

I hope that these broad outlines of the central characters can help point you in the right revision direction.





Blank Template for class activity - Click here

Macbeth Revision using Nearpod

With the mock season in full swing and the real thing just around the corner for Leaving Cert. English pupils, it's time to revise the Single Text. I always do my Single Text with pupils when they are in Fifth year so I often find it feels a little distant to them by the time mocks arrive in sixth year. I always revise the single text in detail before the actual Leaving Cert. exam but it can still leave them a little lost before their mocks with only fifth year work to rely on. This year I'm creating Nearpod revision activities for my pupils. Nearpod allows teachers to create interactive presentations for pupils to answer in their own time. Nearpod can be used as a live teaching session or for setting homework. I am creating a homework task for each of the five Acts in our single text, Macbeth.

The beauty of Nearpod is that it is available on the Web, Android or iOS (the iOS/iPad version is a particularly slick experience!). It is free for pupils to download as an app to their device or they can just complete their tasks on the Web. There is also no sign up necessary for the pupils which is a great plus (no 'I forgot the password sir'!) . Simply open Nearpod on whatever device you are using and enter the code given by the teacher. Pupils then enter their name and complete the homework task.

There's no need for pupils to set up accounts! Just go to the site, enter the code,
enter your name and away you go!

I would advise pupils to use these activities as an open book test. You have as long as you need to complete the activities so take your time and get them right! Once a homework task has been created by one teacher it can be e-mailed to another teacher to be used or edited as they wish. So if any teachers create a Nearpod account and would like me to e-mail them any of these lessons get in touch at: newenglishirl@gmail.com There is also a starter course on how to use the software that can be found on Nearpod using the code PIHGR .

Here are all five lesson codes. Go to Nearpod on the web , click join session in the top right corner,  or Android/iOS device and enter the code. I will only be able to give feedback to my own pupils so if you are a visitor to the site I hope you find the activities helpful. The activities for all five Acts will be added to and improved over time so be sure to check back here, for changes to individual codes.

Act 1 Code                               Act 4 Code
MFLAH                                   KGVAN

Act 2 Code                               Act 5 Code
MYWBO                                     QFRBY

Act 3 Code
ZTUQL

Macbeth Revision for LC and A Level English

Every year I send my senior class away over the Christmas holidays and tell them to begin revising their Single Text for the Leaving Certificate exam. Instead of just sending them off into the great unknown, I try to give them a digital resource they can use over the long break as a guide. This year we studied Macbeth so I've created this revision Padlet and I was wondering if other teachers would like to contribute? I've placed a number of videos on the Padlet page already. The learning activities can be based entirely on the videos or just used as a cue to start a revision activity on that topic. I've used SkyDrive to attach the files but Google Docs could also be easily used. I'd like to cast as wide as net as possible so if any teachers in the UK would also like to get involved that would be great. I've created two activities already but multiple activities could easily be left for the same video/image. Thanks in advance!

Eoghan

(Double click anywhere on the Padlet wall to bring up the insert box. If you are using a tablet you can edit using the window below. If you are using a Mac or PC click here to see an enlarged window for easier editing)

Created with Padlet

Now That's What I Call Learning! Vol.1 (Leaving Cert 2013)

What do all my Leaving Certificate pupils like? Music. Hhhm, how can they use that to their advantage I thought?

Are you are a leaving cert. pupil (or teacher for that matter) that has got that recent hit single stuck in your head? Then why not turn it to your advantage!? Take a current text that you are studying, pick a song you really like at the minute and mash up the lyrics! It's certainly not as productive as doing out all those revision notes or completing an extra exam question for your teacher to correct as both of which are just mandatory over the next couple of months. But mashing songs is something different that can give you a productive break from the revision marathon and might just give you that bit of help on the day of the exam.

Here are a few different ways it can work:

1. Summary - Having trouble remembering the main events/plot of a text? Mix the song with the major events of your text. See 'Macbethelmore' below.
2. Characters - Who are the main characters and why are they important? Mix a song you currently like with all the characters in a certain text. Even just try and fit them all into a verse or chorus.
3. Themes - What are the major themes of your text? Rich and Shakespeare deal with very different themes in their poetry. Could you link their themes to different songs?
4. Quotes - The dreaded quotes. They have to be there to support points and you can't just paraphrase! If there are ten quotes from a text you must know maybe at least half of them could fit in a song you currently like.
5. Key Moments -  'The Great Gatsby' has lots of different key moments for example. I've mixed Justin Timberlake's Mirrors to include the ultimate moment of the revelation of the character of Gatsby.

You can easily find the lyrics to all current songs online and then find the instrumental version of the song on Youtube. Nobody need know you have done it! But I've been changing songs for the last few weeks and found that the original lyrics are now a distant memory when I hear the song on the radio. It might help with your exams or it might just be the fifteen minute break for fun that you need during exam revision season. Either way, be careful you don't destroy a song you love forever!

Mirrors/Gatsby/Key Moment

Original Hook

Cause I don't wanna lose you now
I'm lookin' right at the other half of me
The vacancy that sat in my heart
Is a space that now you hold
Show me how to fight for now
And I'll tell you baby, it was easy
Comin' back into you once I figured it out
You were right here all along
It's like you're my mirror
My mirror staring back at me
I couldn't get any bigger
With anyone else beside of me
And now it's clear as this promise
That we're making two reflections into one
Cause it's like you're my mirror
My mirror staring back at me, staring back at me

 
Revision Hook

Fitzgerald's trying to tell us now
Gatsby can never really love Daisy
Resentment that he has in his heart
Is a space that Buchanan holds
He wants her to renounce him now
Daisy tells him it's just not that easy
Comin' back into you once she figured it out
You were right here all along
I love you now dear Gatsby
Is it not enough that you have me?
I couldn't be any clearer
Tom Buchanan will always be family
Don't get stuck in this moment
What you want is just unattainable
But I do love you now Gatsby
Please let go you have me, you have me

Macbethelmore/Characters 

(Mackelmore starts Thrift Shop by saying what what what what seven times, but I start by saying 'witch witch witch witch' three times to remind me of the importance of the number three in Macbeth. Edit your songs to remind yourself of the points you keep forgetting)

(Witch, witch, witch, witch x3)

I'm gonna steal the throne
Only got a bloody dagger in my pocket
Witches have me hunting, looking for Duncan
This play is bloody and gruesome

listen to ‘Macbethelmore Remix’ on Audioboo

Imagery in Macbeth: 5th Year Presentation

This is a PowerPoint on 'Imagery in Macbeth' by three  5^th years from Ms C. Kelly's English class. A hearty well done to the girls, Sorcha Lavelle Walsh , Katherine Murphy and Bronagh Galvin, for a superbly researched and created piece. Ms Kelly reliably informs me that the girls also gave a fantastic presentation of their work to the class.

Popplet of 5th Year Essays on Macbeth

This is a collection of essay points from recent Macbeth essays completed by a group of fifth years from Newbridge College. These essays were the first attempt by this group of fifth years at a Single Text question for their L.C. English exam. Each block shows just one paragraph from a pupil's essay. The middle block contains a Spark Notes video summary of Macbeth and our full Resource Pack on Macbeth can be found here.

Macbeth Reviews

Please find below the first of a collection of reviews on the recent Second Age Theatre Company's production of Macbeth. Our 5th year pupils from Newbridge College went to see the play on November 13th 2012. (full collection of Macbeth reviews)

Macbeth - Second Age Theatre Company (Cian Rea)

My year group and I recently attended the Second Age Theatre Company’s production of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, in the Helix. The play follows the trials and tribulations of Macbeth upon his search for power and eventual downfall and destruction.

I found this production of the timeless classic a little underwhelming. Although it was my first time seeing any sort of play at the theatre I felt that this interpretation was found lacking. It has to be said that there were many good aspects also. The main part of Macbeth, played by the very talented Will Irvine, was very well portrayed throughout. Irvine’s great bellowing voice carried well in the room and his stage presence was excellent.

The majority of the actors on stage played their parts to their fullest ability but it was the few that lagged behind that brought down the overall quality of the production. Enda Kilroy, who played Banquo was a little rigid throughout and didn’t act with the same fluidity that the others did.

The smaller parts in this play really threw me. The lack of actors lead to some people playing more than one role which made it very hard to keep track of who was who. Other actors who played smaller roles with fewer lines showed their inexperience as they muffled through their words and nervously staggered around the stage. In certain scenes the level of acting skill made the play seem cheap and amateurish.

'Fair is foul. and foul is fair:'

'Perhaps the same can be said for David Horan’s Macbeth, brought to us by the Second Age Theatre Company. A contemporary take on the timeless tragedy by Shakespeare, we see use of intriguing set, sound and lighting design with mixed performances merged and blended together to produce David Horan’s unique, yet unusual interpretation of the Scottish play.'- D. Devanney

Apart from the acting I thought the staging of this play was excellent. The use of the giant windowed doors at the back of the stage gave the simple settings in this play another dimension.  It allowed the audience to be part of the illusion of the play, like when Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo, we see his “reflection” in the windows of the doors. It was the little things like that that tied the play together really well. The combination of the lighting and the smoke on stage positively added to the eerie, mystical atmosphere surrounding the witches. It gave the illusion that these supernatural beings are constantly shrouded by a mystical fog. The only downside to the overall staging was the choice of costumes for the various characters. The three witches were depicted as masked men in what looked like an old-fashioned pilot’s uniforms. It tarnished the idea of them being the “three sisters” and had me confused from the beginning.

Following Duncan’s murder, we are introduced to the Porter played by Damian Kearney. The Porter’s role was to provide comic relief for the audience following the intense events of the previous scene. No one could really argue that Kearney didn’t fulfil that brief but I felt he took it a little too far. The blatant sexual humour got everyone laughing the first time but then, he just kept going. The same jokes over and over debauched the storyline a little and the timeless play turned into a cheap pantomime.Although he adapted very well to the teenage audience, it was obvious that the diehard theatre fans were not as impressed . My favourite aspect of this production was how the director created the scenes where people were killed. The use of Radiohead’s “Videotape” along with the dramatic slow-motion and red sand in place of blood all combined to make the otherwise normal killings into something memorable for the audience. It made it far more dramatic and the red sand was a very clever idea as it was one of the few props used in the production and was by far the most effective. The playing of the song made these scenes stand out in my mind looking back because it is the only time we really saw sound used to enhance the actions on stage.

Weighing up the various pros and cons of this production of Macbeth, I feel that there was a lot left to be desired. If they could have improved the little things like the number of actors or even had more appropriate costuming it would have been far more enjoyable. I feel they tried too hard to bring this classic into the 21^st century and strayed away from what has made this Shakespearean masterpiece so famous.

Popplet on Macbeth

Below you will find a Popplet presentation on the major characters in Macbeth. The analysis of each character has been taken from Sparknotes.com. You may find Popplets are a useful way to organize your work, revise or create a project. Enjoy!

Resource Pack: Macbeth

William Shakespeare's Macbeth is a choice as a Single Text, as well as the comparative course for L.C. 2014. Below are some online resources that may be helpful for teachers and pupils alike in the study of The Scottish Play. The list will be added to over the coming weeks and months so don't hesitate to get in touch if you find some helpful resources. This is a brief introduction to the play adapted from SkyMinds.net

''Shakespeare decided to show the steps by which a noble man is made to his damnation, to depict a man lured by evil. The more evil Macbeth is, the more isolated he becomes.
Shakespeare could not show a devil at the time of the Renaissance (for it was considered as comical at that time) so he showed witches instead, who were human beings that had given their souls to the Devil). Witches are not naturally evil. They have to become evil, just like Macbeth.  They represent fate and humans who have become evil. They know the past, govern the present and can foresee the future. They appear at the beginning, announce Macbeth’s rise and finally his fall : mainly at strategic moments. They only tempt Macbeth because he is ambitious and responsible. Ambition and his wife’s influence will lead him to murder Duncan. Everything is motivated by fear. His solitude increases with the number of crimes.''






1. Link to a series of video scene by scene analysis by Prof. William Lasseter and the Providence eLearning team.
2. The Tragedy of Macbeth- Entire text of the play.
3. Gradesaver Guide to Macbeth with notes on key characters and themes.
4. A link to MindConnex ebook version of Macbeth. The books are not free but come with animated guide videos and notes as a guide.
5. Cliffsnotes Guide to Macbeth - With videos and quizzes that may be helpful for revision.
6. opensourceShakespeare quick links to quotes of all scenes and characters.
7. NewEnglish Popplet presentation on the major characters.
8. Web English list of resources to Macbeth.
9. SCC English Collection of Show Me discussions on Macbeth.