Macbeth

Option 1:

This blog entry is based on what you have taken from the first act of "Macbeth."

There are three parts to this blog. In part one you must summarize in your own words what has happened so far in the play (7-10 key points). In part two you need to describe the character of Macbeth, and be sure to support your description of him with evidence from the play. 
Finally you need to change the setting or the genre of the play and describe how (if you were a film director)you would stage the play, and how you would present key scenes(the battle, the witches, Macbeth having visions of the dagger etc.)You can be as creative as you want, and change the play into any genre (science fiction, soap-opera, action, western etc.)that you want.You just have to stay true to the general actions and motivations of the characters.


Summary
After reading and analyzing Act I in Macbeth I have gotten an understanding of the piece and the first impression of the main characters and how each mind works. Macbeth starts out as the Thane of Glamis and he is on a battle field with his good friend Banquo. On their journey they run into Three Witches whom they had never met before. These witches chant "Hail Macbeth, Thane of Glamis! Hail Macbeth, Thane of Cawdor! Hail Macbeth, who shall be King soon after!" They had also predicted that Banquo will be great but not as great as Macbeth, although his children will be King. Macbeth and Banquo blew it off because it was just some crazy witches saying crazy things. Later that day the King announced that Macbeth would be promoted to Thane of Cawdor because the Thane that was, had been executed for treason. Macbeth had it set in his mind that he would then be King, he went right away and wrote a letter to his wife, Lady Macbeth explaining everything that had happened in the last short while. Lady Macbeth was just as persistent as Macbeth, if not more so. The King soon after had announced the Prince of Cumberland as his son. Macbeth was extremely angry because this was his one chance to become King. Shortly after that the King is announced to stay at the Macbeth's home as a guest. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth decide that they will welcome him to their greatest ability while planning his death. They decide that for Macbeth to be King, King Duncan must be killed. Macbeth changes his mind because King Duncan was their house guest, he was a genuinely nice man, and he was their King, but Lady Macbeth will have nothing to do with it. She basically forces Macbeth to change his mind and they stick with their decision to murder King Duncan. The very end of Act I, Lady Macbeth outlines her plan to kill King Duncan in his sleep.


Characters
King Duncan- Loyal, Friendly, Fair (Thoughtfully gave Macbeth the title of Thane Of Cawdor for his hard work and positive attitude.)
Macbeth- Persistent, Easily-angered, Motivated (Once King is set into his mind, he is persistent to become King and will do anything to become.)
Lady Macbeth- Persistent, Convincing, Rebellious (When her husband had changed his mind about murdering King Duncan, she successfully convinced him that it was the right thing to do and if he didn't he wasn't a true man.)
Banquo- Good friend, Loyal, Not as easily convinced (When the witches made their predictions, Banquo just joked it off and didn't give much of a second thought about the situation)
Three Witches- Sly, Evil (If they hadn't told Macbeth what they predicted, would he be in the mind set to kill his King to become one?)


Genre
If I were the director of Macbeth and I could change the genre and setting to anything I could possibly imagine, I would choose it to be a space theme and it would be set on a far away planet. Macbeth would be an astronaut whom had landed on this unknown planet as a space mission, sent out by King Duncan. As he was at this planet Three Aliens had approached him and his friend Banquo. Their language was strange but with the help of his Iphone which had a fantastic 3g network and internet connection he understood what they were telling him. They told him he would go from being Captain Glamis to Captain Cawdor and soon after he would be King of the universe. Once he teleported home to his crater on one of the moons of Saturn he was informed Duncan, King of the Universe would be staying with him. Him and his Wife decided they would murder the King of the Universe to have Macbeth take his title. Lady Macbeth then makes a speech about how she wants to become alien to her feminem beauty so that she has the strength to kill with no regret.

The Curse Of Macbeth

Today's assignment is to do a little research into topics associated with "Macbeth". Your paragraph must have a clear and engaging introduction, followed by 7-10 facts of information, and finished up with a powerful conclusion. Please remember that this paragraph must be completely in your own words.

5. The Curse of Macbeth

The Scottish play is a euphemism for Shakespeare's play, Macbeth. This theatrical superstition has been in play(ha!) since the premier night when an actor was stabbed and killed on stage because the prop dagger had been mistakenly replaced with a real dagger. It is believed that if one is to speak the name 'Macbeth' during practices and directly before the show, it will be cursed. Because the play is very bloody and crimson, the bacstage is very hectic and fast paced. Leaving plenty of room for disaster to happen.  It has been reported that there have been numerous accidents after saying 'Macbeth' many including deaths and serious injuries. According to the many superstitions related to the Scottish play, it is said that Shakespeare, when writing the play, had placed in lines for the Three Witches from an actual coven of witches, the witches watched the play and were tremendously offended. Another belief includes that a prop master couldn't find a proper cauldron for the show, so he took one from a witch coven, the witches cursed him for such a theft. One more superstition appends that Shakespeare himself had gotten witches to curse the play so that he could be the only director to succeed with this work. Knowing that only he would be able to understand the key to keep the play from failing and hitting rock bottom.

Journal Numbero Uno: The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time

I am only assigning 1 journal entry for the novel unit, and I usually find this one of the most interesting assignments as I get to have a bit of a dialogue with you about your novel. Please keep the following in mind when it comes to journal writing:

1. Writing in response to reading without a goal of deeper understanding is a waste of time (yours and mine)
2. Your goals are to:a) personalize the story (make it more meaningful for you) b) gain insights about characters c) see the world in a different way
3. The main point of journal writing is to clarify your thoughts by committing your thinking to paper. Please choose a quote or a passage from your novel (include page number) and explain the connection you have made to it. How does the connection you have made help you understand more about the book?

Today you need to post your own journal entry, and respond to one other people in your LIT circle group. As always, proper grammar, spelling, punctuation etc. applies. Finally, make sure you are linked to everyone else who is reading the same novel.

Please include your novel title in your blog title. Example: Journal #1: The Hunger Games

"My name is Christopher John Francis Boone. I know all the countries of the world and I know all of their capital cities and every prime number up to 7,057." The book 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' is an extremely interesting book about a 15 year old boy with autism. It explains the everyday thoughts of Christopher, along with his troubles and the things that bring joy to his life. I am absolutely enthralled into this book and I find it very compelling. One of my step-sister's best friends has a slight form of autism and when I was younger I would always got really confused when she would get into fases that she wouldn't talk to anyone or she would run and hide and scream. As I grew older I realized the disease that she has and I learned how to deal with it properly. I always knew that she was especially smart for her age group and that she was a really nice girl. After reading this novel I now understand (somewhat!) what goes through the minds of people with autism. They think of things completely different than the average person. The perspectives that they think of is so amazing, and in some cases I wish I could have thought to look at things that way. Of course, at the same time I am glad that I don't because of the everday struggles it places on you aswell as your family. I find this novel a really good read because it isn't the basic story line that most novels have. It really makes you think differently about the most basic everyday encounters.

2. List 10 simple pleasures. Describe one of them in detail.
1. Waking up to coffee in bed
2. A sunny day after a week of rain
3. The smell of apple pie being baked
4. Finding the pair of shoes you wanted on sale
5. Finishing a book that you were really into
6. Taking the perfect photo of lightning 
7. Learning how to drive stick shift
8. Being up to date on all homework
9. Pedicures
10. Getting all your foul shots in during a tightly scored basketball game


Taking the perfect photo of lightning
Whenever there is a huge lightning storm and it's really bright, I find it so magnificent. That static electricity can light up the entire sky. Also, that such a shock can burn a tree to the ground and start humongous fires and other problems. Whenever I am at home or not otherwise preoccupied I like to bring out my camera and try to snap a photo of the lightning. It's extremely difficult to get a perfect photo of the lightning when it's fully streamed because one bolt of lightning goes so quickly. You basically have to guess when the next lightning will strike. When I got the nicest photo of lightning I was so stoked, it really was a highlight of my photography.

2012!

Honestly, who cares whether or not the world is going to end in 2012? It's bound to happen at some point. Sure it would suck, but as long as we feel nothing what does it matter? That's just saying the world will end. Maybe the Mayans got lazy when they were making the calendar, and didn't want to put dates on that went forever and ever. It's possible that they didn't remember to put infinity on after December 21, 2012. For the people who already disbelieve in that, there's the galactic alignment, we've been in red shift since the 'Big Bang' and coming 2012 it'll hit blue shift, and what do you know? The Earth explodes and splits into a million pieces. Whoops. Then of course, this all mighty Nostradamus comes along to predict the future. Predicting Napoleon, Hitler, and 9/11. His prediction that 2012 will be the end of course has to be completely true... Not.
Other than all those facts though that can get pretty annoying, there's a kajillion billion people that are all freaking out about how horrible it'll be if the world ends. Not to mention the amount of Facebook groups and event being sent out inviting people to 'The End Of The World Party' where everyone meets in the black hole or whatever nonsense the person creating the group decides to make up that day.
The way I see it personally, is if it ends, it ends. As long as all these Mayan aliens don't come to take over and make us work as labour slaves and treat us with the utmost disrespect, I'm fine.

Woodstock

You have the ability to transport yourself to any historical event. Describe that event. You may also choose to become involved in the event and possibly even change the course of history.
Make sure that this composition has a creative idea, interesting diction (word choice), specific detail, varied sentence length, and a dynamic introduction and conclusion.
High level responses will use formal language and proper grammar and punctuation. Make sure you include plenty of detail - this should be a lengthy paragraph.
Most importantly, keep it out of my "Boring Bin." Either dazzle me with your description, entertain me with your humor and creativity, or impress me with profound, thought provoking, and mature ideas.

Top marks will be awarded for those who are able to accomplish all of the above.

If I could go back to any historical event, without any doubt I would go back to Woodstock Music Festival in it's original year, 1969. I am completely in love with classic rock music and being able to experience The Who, Santana, Janis Joplin, Neil Young, and Jimi Hendrix live, would be life changing. Woodstock was considered to be in the top 50 of The Rolling Stones most life changing rock and roll moments.


" I saved up all my money to be here. I worked in my Dad's corner shop for 3 months to be able to pay for my ticket. $20 dollars! And boy, was it worth it. I'm in a huge field with thousands upon thousands of people. And everybody here is so peaceful and enjoying life. At first when the UATWMF (up against the wall mother.... ) group cut through the fence allowing thousands others to sneak into the event I felt a bit ripped off. Seeing as I already payed for my ticket, and all these people are getting in for free. But because this is a peace related event, I let it pass over me. Why worry about something I enjoy, right? Yesterday I went to watch Joan Baez, Country Joe McDonald, and Bert Sommer. All were fantastic. The act I am most excited for though is Jimi Hendrix, which isn't until Monday... The last day. This is truly the most amazing thing I have ever experience and can't wait to take more of it in! "