QUICK WRITE

What do people value in life?What are people willing to do for what

they value?

ANALYSIS

Read the following lines. Consider as you read and

reread the lines: What does this person look

like? What is this person doing? What is your interpretation

of the comments? What has caused this

person to make these comments?

MoodImageryFigurative LanguageSyntaxTheme

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

TRAGEDY

Define tragedy.In the case of two similar situations what

might make one a tragedy and the other not a tragedy? Explain using a specific example.

What emotions does tragedy evoke in the witnesses (hear, see, read, etc.)?

TRAGEDY DEFINED

a lamentable, dreadful, or fatal event or affair; calamity; disaster: the tragedy of war.

A lamentable element of drama, of literature generally, or of life.

TRAGEDY

a dramatic composition, often in verse, dealing with a serious or somber theme, typically that of a great person destined through a flaw of character or conflict with some overpowering force, as fate or society, to downfall or destruction.

TRAGEDY

any literary composition, as a novel, dealing with a somber theme carried to a tragic conclusion.

TRAGEDYTragedy is the “imitation of an action” (mimesis)

according to “the law of probability or necessity.” Aristotle indicates that the medium of tragedy is drama, not narrative; tragedy “shows” rather than “tells.” According to Aristotle, tragedy is higher and more philosophical than history because history simply relates what has happened while tragedy dramatizes what may happen, “what is possible according to the law of probability or necessity.” History thus deals with the particular, and tragedy with the universal. Events that have happened may be due to accident or coincidence; they may be particular to a specific situation and not be part of a clear cause-and-effect chain.

TRAGEDY CONT.

Therefore they have little relevance for others. Tragedy, however, is rooted in the fundamental order of the universe; it creates a cause-and-effect chain that clearly reveals what may happen at any time or place because that is the way the world operates. Tragedy therefore arouses not only pity but also fear, because the audience can envision themselves within this cause-and-effect chain.

TRAGIC HERO

Potential for greatness-doomed to failThe tragic hero will most effectively

evoke both our pity and terror if he is neither thoroughly good nor thoroughly evil but a combination of both.

TRAGIC HEROS ARE

Born into nobilityResponsible for own fateEndowed with a tragic flawDOOMED to make a serious error in

judgment

TRAGIC HEROES EVENTUALLY

FALL from great heights or high esteemRealize they have made an irreversible

mistakeFaces and accepts death with honorTRAGIC death

TRAGIC HERO & AUDIENCE

THE AUDIENCE IS AFFECTED BY PITY and/or FEAR

FREYTAG’S PYRAMID

The structure of tragedy.

ARISTOTLE’S SIX ELEMENTS OF TRAGEDY

PlotCharacterDictionMusicThoughtSpectacle

PLOT

Events rather than themePlot-unity

Each action should initiate the next rather than stand alone

Must be involved in conflict that has a pattern of entanglement

Rising action-crisis-climax-falling action with resolution

CHARACTER

Person or personalityCombination of character and thought

gives rise to plot

THOUGHT

Theme, argument and overall meaning

DICTION

The word choices made by the playwright

The enunciation of the actors delivering the lines

MUSIC

The rhythm of speeches and the rhythm of melody that serve to embellish tragedy.

SPECTACLE

SceneryCostumesSpecial effects

MACBETH: CHARACTER ANALYSIS

As you read keep notes on Macbeth’s character.

CONSIDER:

A character map

Chart of changes

MACBETH: SETTING

Some critics note Shakespeare’s use of setting over the storyline itself.

Keep track of the setting/atmosphereNote any symbolism/metaphors

MACBETH ANALYSIS

http://www.criticalthinking.eu/RationaleWiki/wiki.austhink.com/f/1189386147/macbeth1.gif

RESOURCES

http://www.allwords.com/word-tragic%20hero.html

Arnott, Peter. The Theater in Its Time. Little Brown and Company: Boston. 1981. Print.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/english/shakespeare_scenes/macbeth_extract2_4.shtml

http://www.cnr.edu/home/bmcmanus/poetics.html

http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/tragedy.html

Discussion Questions for Text Supplemental readings

Shakespeare’s MacbethWhat did you find interesting?Look at list of findings. Watch for how

many Shakespeare works into the play.We will read excerpts of Holinshed’s

Chronicles prior to Act 3 and Act 4

Discussion Questions for Text Supplemental readings

Reading Shakespeare’s LanguageWhat are your thoughts, reactions

questions?Did you look up any words? What advice is given in these pages for

you to better understand and work through the challenge of the language?

Discussion Questions for Text Supplemental readings

An Introduction to this TextWhat are your thoughts, reactions,

questions? Anything strike you as interesting?