Composition & Essays

Lord of the Flies

Other Studies

Poetry

Shakespeare

To Kill A Mockingbird

Janice Son

Manifestations of Macbeth: A unit plan on Macbeth with a focus on approaches to the play in other places, times, and mediums

Grade Level: 11

Duration: 7 weeks (21 lessons, 60 minutes per lesson, 3 classes a week)

Global Rationale:

One of the most interesting aspects of studying a Shakespeare play is to compare and contrast different treatments of the text in different places, times, and mediums (drama, film, music, painting, comic books, and animation). In this unit, the class, as they carefully study Macbeth, will examine different manifestations of the play. I will take this angle in teaching the play for many reasons. First, I want to use a variety of media to keep the unit fresh and exciting and to scaffold the students’ learning in different ways. Secondly, I want to show the students that there are many interpretations of this play and many ways to present it. Therefore, they will be encouraged to be creative in developing their own “valid” interpretations of the play. Thirdly, in examining these different manifestations of Macbeth, we will discuss the conventions of different art forms and how these conventions affect the presentation of the play. Finally, I want to show them that Shakespeare is all around us. Shakespeare permeates every facet of our lives, perhaps without our even knowing it: there are constant allusions to Shakespeare and his plays in popular culture, and the situations that he writes about parallel those that occur in our daily lives. Thus, I will relate Shakespeare to the students’ everyday lives. Perhaps, through this process, students will be able to answer the question, “Why the preoccupation with Shakespeare?”

In this unit, we will be engaging in a variety of activities that should serve to develop the students’ abilities in literary analysis, written composition, verbal communication, and social interaction. Students will be encouraged to connect what we do in class with their own lives. Students will also be challenged to think about Macbeth in terms of performance rather than just a written text.

I use a wide variety of activities and assignments in this unit to try as much as possible to meet the needs of all learners and to develop the unique talents of my students. The unit begins with my supporting – to a great extent – the student’s understanding of the play. The students will be given study questions to answer for Act I, and we will read the first few acts together in class. As the unit progresses, students will become more responsible for their own learning. Ideally, their development will climax when they present their final group projects. My hope is that this unit will promote maximum learning and success for all my students. My plan is for my students to develop skills they can take with them once they have left school: learning independently, solving problems, and working with others. They will also learn that there is more than one way to approach a problem, more than one way to see a situation.