Practice identifying figurative language used in Shakespeare's Macbeth. This is just a straight-forward quote and identify sheet used before analyzing the language used in the play.
This activity utilizes the Shakespeare play Macbeth while connecting it to real-life situations and people. The historical figures involved can be changed, but these specific ones were chosen to provide diversity in location and time period with the goal to see that there are similarities in those who obtain power and abuse it while also recognizing the differences with each situation. This helps to connect fiction to history and can help students understand the significnace of the themes that literature conveys to the audience.
Prepare a defense of Macbeth! This activity has students taking a stance and arguing a defense for Macbeth while utilizing rhetorical appeals and cited, textual evidence from the Shakespearean play.
The Folger Shakespeare Library provides the full searchable text of "Macbeth" to read online or download as a PDF. All of the lines are numbered sequentially to make it easier and more convenient to find any line.
This brief activity has students looking at both prose and iambic pentameter in Shakespeare's Macbeth. It can be done as a class or individual with a class discussion as a follow up.