
Suitable for: Years 9-10
Prerequisites: Poetry for Beginners OR Literary Techniques (one-day crash course)
Duration: 2 hours a week for 10 weeks; 20 hours total
About:
Double, double, toil and trouble; fire burn and caldron bubble. This isn’t the latest episode of Masterchef, it’s Shakespeare’s Mac – wait! Don’t you know it’s bad luck to say the title of this play? And the bad luck in this Scottish tragedy is more than just burning your haggis – think ghosts, madness, and blood. Lots of it.
But what is the source of this bad luck? Is it the famous witches, or our main character’s desire to gain power no matter what? Did you fail your last exam because it was too hard or because you didn’t prepare? Don’t leave your next exam up to fate – join us at Shakespeare Academy!
In every lesson, students read extracts from Shakespeare’s text and then analyse how the literary techniques create meaning and explore the themes of the play. Each week, students are asked to provide written responses for homework, including essays, opinion pieces, and creative responses.
Student Writing Outcomes:
- Opinion pieces about the extracts and characters studied in class;
- Analytical paragraphs or partial essays about the extracts studied; and
- Full essays about the themes and concerns of the play.
Student Learning Objectives:
- Reviewing and consolidating an extensive list of techniques for literary analysis;
- Understanding Shakespearean language;
- Understanding the characters, themes, and context of Macbeth;
- Having the tools to analyse and write about Shakespeare’s plays in opinion pieces and essays;
- Considering the similarities and differences between people today and people in Shakespeare’s time;
- Organising and writing literary notes in preparation for essays and exams; and
- Evaluating Shakespeare’s responses to questions we still have today.