Starter quiz
- In 'Macbeth', which characters are presented as having villainous qualities?
- Duncan
- The witches ✓
- Banquo
- Lady Macbeth ✓
- Macduff
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- In 1.6 of 'Macbeth', in what ways is Lady Macbeth duplicitous?
- She welcomes Banquo to her castle whilst plotting to kill him.
- She hides the fact that she is a witch.
- She emasculates Macbeth.
- She pretends to be pleased about Macbeth's promotion.
- She welcomes Duncan to her castle whilst plotting to kill him. ✓
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- When Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost in 3.4 of 'Macbeth', how does Lady Macbeth try and control his terrified reaction to it?
- emasculation ✓
- saying "Leave all the rest to me"
- summoning the witches
- pretending she can see the Ghost too
- anger ✓
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- Which of the following are true of the purpose and role of topic sentences?
- They should include analysis of quotation.
- They give direction and purpose to paragraphs. ✓
- They conclude paragraphs.
- They explain the range of topics you will explore in your essay.
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- In 1.5 of 'Macbeth', Lady Macbeth asks spirits to "Make thick my blood; Stop up the access and passage to ______"..
- 'remorse' ✓
- Once she hears about the witches' prophecies in 1.5 of 'Macbeth' via letter from Macbeth, the first thing Lady Macbeth says is, "Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be What thou art ______".
- 'promised' ✓
Exit quiz
- You have been given this question: 'To what extent does Shakespeare present Lady Macbeth presented as a dutiful wife?'. Match the question fragment to its purpose.
- To what extent⇔What is your overall thesis? ✓
- does Shakespeare present⇔What were the writer's intentions? ✓
- Lady Macbeth as a dutiful wife⇔What ideas are there around this concept in the play? ✓
- Match the essay terms to their definitions.
- thesis⇔a powerful idea you prove throughout your essay ✓
- topic sentence⇔the first sentence of a paragraph which states its main idea ✓
- judicious supporting detail⇔well-chosen evidence which supports the topic sentence ✓
- concluding sentence⇔summary of paragraph with a focus on writer's purpose ✓
- In his book 'The Prince' (1513), Machiavelli argues that to get and maintain power, you might have to resort to certain tactics. What are they?
- immorality ✓
- supernaturalism
- duplicity ✓
- treachery ✓
- emasculation
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- Why might some argue that Lady Macbeth is not a Machiavellian villain?
- She supports Macbeth's ambitions, not her own ✓
- She feels guilt at the end of the play and doesn't maintain power ✓
- She doesn't have children
- She hasn't read 'The Prince'
- She rejects her humanity
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- Here is a thesis: Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth is presented as a Machiavellian villain when she uses duplicity; later she is not so Machiavellian because she feels guilty'. What feedback would you give?
- Clear thesis
- You are arguing both sides; select one ✓
- You are describing the plot, not arguing an idea ✓
- You are ready to write your topic sentences
- Explain what Machiavellian means
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- Which topic sentence best supports this thesis: 'Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth embodies the qualities of a great Machiavellian ruler, only prevented from realising her ambition due to the patriarchy'?
- Shakespeare might have been influenced by Machiavelli's 'The Prince'.
- Jacobeans believed women should run a godly household and not be Machiavellian.
- Shakespeare uses Act 1 to establish Lady Macbeth's qualities as a Machiavel. ✓
- In 1.5, Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth powerfully with 'unsex me here'.
- Ultimately, Shakespeare opposed the patriarchy; perhaps he was a feminist.
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Worksheet
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Machiavellian is an adjective. It describes someone who gets what they want in cunning, ruthless and immoral ways.
- A thesis statement is a clear, overarching argument
- Topic sentences give focus to individual paragraphs
- Topic sentences should support the overarching thesis
- Identifying judicious supporting detail to include in each paragraph supports planning
Common misconception
Thesis and topic sentences are the same thing.
A thesis must be overarching. A topic sentence can be much more specific.
Keywords
Machiavellian - Machiavellian is an adjective. It describes someone who gets what they want in cunning, ruthless and immoral ways.
Thesis - A thesis is an argument, a powerful idea that you state at the beginning of an essay and prove throughout your essay.
Topic sentence - A topic sentence is the first sentence of a paragraph. It states the paragraph’s main idea.
Overarching - Your thesis should be overarching: it should be an idea that is supported by the whole text, not just one moment from the text.
Judicious - Judicious is a synonym for wise, well-chosen, sensible.
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