Macbeth Explication

You will be writing an in-depth explication of one of the following passages as an in-class writing assignment. The first thing you must do is consider Shakespeare’s purpose in writing this passage; consider such things as

• what the passage reveals about the speaker, or other characters
• how the passage relates to the play’s mood and/or setting 
• how the speech reflects any of the play’s motifs or themes 
• how the passage relates to the concepts of the Chain of Being and Divine Right 
• how the passage moves the action forward

Once you have decided on the purpose of the passage, you can then ponder how Shakespeare accomplishes it. For this, you want to consider dramatic and poetic devices, such as

• diction (word choice, sense imagery, puns) and syntax (word order)
• dramatic irony, foreshadowing, soliloquy or aside
• setting and pathetic fallacy
• allusion
• metaphors, similes, personification, oxymorons, understatement, hyperbole, paradox

It is imperative that you not just state the use of the suggestions above, but that you frame your essay around your overriding thesis, Shakespeare’s purpose in the passage. In other words, your paper is looking at how the dramatic/poetic devices convey the purpose of the passage.
Your essay must contain quotations from the entire passage, not just one section. Remember to identify the passage at the beginning of your essay; then you can cite merely line numbers.

Passages from which to choose:

• I. iii. 128-143
• I. v. 15-30
• I. v. 38-58
• I. vii. 1-28
• II. i. 34-65
• III. i. 49-73

Due in printed form at the end of class Friday. Period 4: give to Mazelle; Period 6, give to Chris.