Aim: How is Pathetic Fallacy used to illustrate the unnatural order of the Macbeth universe?
At the beginning of the lesson, we discussed a series of quotes and dug deeper into the meaning behind each of them.

“The Second Look” brief explanations for each quote:
 1. The Fool’s Rule, Porter is being drunk and foolish.
2. He’s pretending to be the porter of hell, he’s trying to be funny, example of dramatic irony, and it he’s trying to say that sweating out water means you’re not going to be cleaning anything.
3. Referring someone to being cold, which means they have no feelings, or no heart.
4. Even though Macbeth is planning on killing all these people, he’ll eventually get caught, Macbeth is being phony, he talk his way out of this scenario, but not the big picture.
5. Makes Lady Macbeth brave and makes the guards pass out, which all in all led to the murder.
6. Relating back to the talk about lechery, Macbeth had this desire to kill Duncan, but now he’s freaking out, made him believe he can do something, but now he feels terrible about it.

We then discussed the meaning of karma:
The class agreed on the meaning, “what goes around, comes around”

Then we were introduced to a new form of personification known as Pathetic Pallacy.

Pathetic Pallacy - “poetic practice of attributing human emotion or responses to nature, inanimate objects, or animals. The practice is a form of personification that is as old as poetry, in which it has always been common to find smiling or dancing flowers, angry or cruel winds, brooding mountains, moping owls, or happy larks”

It is another way for the author to illustrate was is happening in a certain scene.
Nature is going to respond to what is happening.

For example Macbeth kills Duncan, and in the play, the owl makes noise all night, the earth shakes, and people begin to hear things.

Blog #31, Richard Chin, Blogger #7-31

Monday, December 3, 2018
Mrs. Fusaro-Pizzo, Blogger #31
Sophomores 2019, Period 7

Aim: How does Shakespeare employ the use of “comic relief” to simultaneously lighten and darken the play?

Write Now: (On Google Classroom) STEP BACK & REVIEW

“Is this a dagger I see before me..”

“Macbeth does murder sleep”

Let’s review these chunks from Act II

Using your knowledge of symbols, what is Macbeth talking about? Why is this language to describe his act so provocative?

Reviewing on what we sophomores read in “Macbeth” by William Skakespeare in Act II, we analysized what made Act II seem so deep and meaningful: the vivid imagery, the overwhelming senses of emotions, and the symbolism.  For example:

• “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?” —In this quote, Macbeth is hallucinating a dagger which he would use to kill King Duncan (the “will be” formal king of Scotland), due to the harsh consideration Macbeth is having before committing the murder.
• “Macbeth does murder sleep”— In this chunk, Macbeth is having a guilty conscience of killing King Duncan, committing evil by taking advantage of a man’s most vulnerable state (sleeping with innocently)

After the write now/do now, Mrs. Fusaro taught us what passive-aggressive and comic relief was, giving several examples of each one in order for us to understand the concept.

Passive-Aggressive is an indirect resistance to the demands of others.

Some ways people can be passive-aggressive in real-life are:

• Not doing work or do it late for someone else in order to emphasize your unhappiness without directly stating the fact that you're unhappy.
• Complaining and whining to a co-worker (acting like a child while you're an adult), not telling your boss about your problems

The purpose of comic relief in Shakespeare's writing in "Macbeth" demonstrates to play an essential role in the flow of emotions throughout the play. Comic relief allows to lighten up the play, allowing Shakespeare to add even more dankness and intensity to sink into the audience's minds as Macbeth commits even more crimes as well as Duncan's dead body.

The Fool Rule in Shakespeare (Fun Fact): He added fools in his plays/stories as the wisest characters. He did this because he didn't like how the poor had to watch his plays from the balcony because they didn't have the money to enjoy his shows like the rich people did (the rich showing little respect to the poor).

Using these definitions our teacher gave us, we headed on to reading Act II Scene III of "Macbeth."

In the beginning of the scene, a porter is revealed to be the comic relief after the cruel murder of King Duncan. It takes the audience away from the "dark moments" by focusing on the porter, who spouted out humorous ramble about the effects drinking alcohol does for you towards Macduff and Lennox (who came to see Macbeth). The porter also mentions about the theme of equivocation. In this case, "drinking" is the equivocator, which is how the truth of Duncan's death is going to be manipulated into lies.

By observing literary techniques Shakespeare used to make his books the successes they are, we as students can learn to input these literary techniques in our own writing in order to make it more interesting and deep. 

Blogger #7-30 11/29/18

Aim: How do the symbols in Act II, scene ii, contribute to the work as a whole by illuminating tone, mood, and the theme of Macbeth?

     Do Now: Prepare for HOT SEAT by adding ONE MORE thought- provoking question to your list! Remember what creates an insightful question (ANALYSIS=What is IMPLIED = What we can INFER) - Start with HOW and WHY to get the most out of your questions.

(the hot seat characters should prepare)

Hot Seat Characters

Lady Macbeth

Macbeth

Two Guards

King Duncan

Host

Audience - asks the questions

The Hot Seat begins with an reenactment of Act. 2, Scene 2, in which the class (audience) has to take notes on.

"Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep!" 

(Important Quote) Consider the symbolism associated with this statement.

     > Sleep symbolizes a "little death", and the most vulnerable state of humans. Macbeth takes advantage of this and kills Duncan in his sleep.

After the scene ends, the characters take their seats, and we begin our discussion by asking specific characters insightful question about the scene, or events leading up to that scene. 

Some of the Questions and Answers:  

~  Questions directed towards Lady Macbeth ~

- Why did you marry such a coward?
Lady Macbeth: I didn't know how big of a coward he was when we got married

- What is up with the birds? Owls, chickens, ravens, and crows?
Lady Macbeth: The ravens and crows symbolize death, which stand for Duncan's death. The chicken represents my husband, since he is a big coward.

- Why weren't you okay with killing Duncan who resembled your father, but okay with murdering your own child?
Lady Macbeth: It was a moment of weakness.

~ Questions directed towards Macbeth ~
- Do you support your wife, and her ideas?
Macbeth: Of course, I'm very proud of her and I know she wanted to murder Duncan for my sake.

- Did you kill Duncan to prove your masculinity, or did you do it for yourself to be king?

Macbeth: Both, since my wife thinks she's a better man than I am, and I also want to be king

-Do you plan on following through with the plan?

Macbeth: Yes, as we already killed Duncan, might as well follow through. We shouldn't be going backwards or else all our work will be in vain.

-Did you promise your wife to kill Duncan?

Macbeth: and that to

~ Questions directed towards King Duncan ~

-How does it feel to be betrayed twice?

Duncan: Obviously not great, Macbeth was suppose to be my loyal commander, I don't understand why.

-Having been killed because of how trusting you were, if you could go back, would you have ruled your empire more strictly?

Duncan: No, it was because I was a kind ruler that people loved me.

~ Questions directed toward the 2 guards ~

- Why were you slacking on the job?

Guards: We were working so hard, and at first we were refusing the drinks, but Lady Macbeth requested we drink so we did.This is the first time a King has died, and we will do a better job at guarding for his son.

-Why weren't you suspicious of Lady Macbeth? Guards: She seemed perfectly sane, and she offered us drinks like she was rewarding us for working so hard to protect the King.

Class Blogging 7-29 11/27/18

Aim: What are the major symbols in Macbeth and how do they create allusions and connections?

Do Now: Review through Act I of Macbeth and find ANY symbol being used. Write down: 1. The symbol, 2. The quote, 3. The line reference. Turn to a partner and teach each other about how your symbols are being used and how it contributes to the meaning of the text.

-Today, we talked about symbolism and how it is used in quotes of Act I of Macbeth. Some symbols mentioned during the group discussion were water which represents life, the number 3 which is a very powerful number in literature, darkness which symbolizes evil, and milk which represents nurture, care, and motherhood.

-In addition to this, we started reading Act II Scene I of Macbeth where we left off of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth previously plotting to kill King Duncan.

-In Act II Scene I, a new character, Fleance, is introduced.

-Many symbols were discussed in Act II Scene I, such as darkness in which it represents evil and the propechy of Macbeth troubles Banquo causing him to be unable to fall asleep. Previously before, Macbeth had thought about what the three witches who recited the prophecy and lied to Banquo, going against what he had said earlier about being completely open and trusting one another.

-Finishing Act II Scene I, we have a soliloquy by Macbeth in which we had to deconstruct in our groups. After speaking and listening to other groups, we have confirmed that in the soliloquy, Macbeth is uneasy about killing King Duncan and is almost hallucinating that he did when he says that he sees blood on his dagger and compares the crime to the crime of Tarquín who committed the Rape of Lucrece. Another symbol that we could find was that he compares himself to a wolf who is startled by its own howl when he says that he was shocked that the dagger he was holding could be a weapon of murder.

- In the end, however, after thinking about the murder of King Duncan for so long, Macbeth has finally convinced himself that he will commit the crime and kill King Duncan.

7-27 Blog 11/21/18

Aim: What are the major symbols in Macbeth and how do they create allusions and connections?
Do Now: Quiz! Online

Pair Share: On paper/digitally, write to a note to your neighbors using only images. Trade notes to see if you can understand one another without speaking.

Example of Pair share acitivty

Symbolism in Macbeth 

We discussed about symbolism in Macbeth, For example, white meant innocence and purity and water meant cleansing.

Elizabeth Vesialou Blogger #7-26 11/19/18

Aim: How is imagery used to highlight the motif of promises?

Do now: Review Macbeth's soliloquy, especially the conclusion. How does the imagery in the beginning and end bring Macbeth to his decision? 

We began the class by finishing act 1 scene 7 of Macbeth. In this portion of the reading we learned that Lady Macbeth wants to get the guards drunk to kill the king who is sleeping. She wants to use a guard's sword to perform the task. Macbeth is finding no reason to do this showing a nurturing side while is wife is cruel. This goes back to "fair is foul and foul is fair" because everything is opposite in their relationship. Lady Macbeth is more masculine while Macbeth is more feminine. 

After discussing this scene, we spoke about types of characters in literature. Some types include: 

1. Round character: reader knows a lot about the character. The character is developed physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Examples of such characters: Lady Macbeth, Macbeth, Ralph, Piggy

2. Flat characters: character is only one sided and not well developed 

Ex: King Duncan, Roger, Robert

3.Dynamic Characters: characters that go through a significant change throughout the story

Ex: Macbeth, Ralph

4. Static Characters: characters who do not change in the story 

Ex: Roger

Then, Ms. Fusaro posted a picture on the board and we had a question to answer in our group. We discussed what the meaning of the image was and what in the image led us to our conclusion. 

After talking in our groups, we shared our answers in a class discussion. Some answers included that it could be Lady Macbeth's conscious that is feeling guilty about her murders because of her scared look and stiff body language. Another idea was that the light in the center represented a positive idea that was surrounded by the negativity in the area. To add on, it could be that a Lady Macbeth is pushing her nurturing feminine side away to allow her cruelty and masculine side to take charge. This is expressed in the image because the woman in the background looks very feminine and looks submissive and scared of Lady Macbeth. Also, the man next to her seems to reach out to cover her as if to overpower Lady Macbeth's feminine side. The two people could represent the two parts of Lady Macbeth and how she is trying to allow her masculine side to shine through.

Our last discussion was motifs which are repetition of specific themes that dominate a literary work. So far in this book the motifs are promises, milk, and hands. More accurate description of a motif is in the image below.

Friday, Nov 16

Mrs. Fusaro-Pizzo, Blogger #23
November 16th, 2018
Sophomores, Period 7


Today in class we created a flipgrid with each of our teams. 

Using the vocabulary words for this unit, we were to record a flipgrid creating a song, dance, narrative, poem, or dramatic dialogue. However, most of the groups in our class decided to create a story using the vocabulary words. 

Each story had a minimum of one word per group member. (Ex. 6 members would require 6 words.) Each performance had to have been a maximum of five minutes. 

My group decided to create a story using six words. It followed one of our group members, Thami, as he was sent away by his father to a summer camp in the tundra. Thami could not stand the summer camp and tried to destroy it. He decided he would burn it down. After failing and getting caught, he was trapped in a cave for the rest of his life by the summer camp leaders. 

Other groups created their own stories and you can view them in the link below. 

Watch our groups’ stories here

board view