Unit 4: Knowledge Introduction

Lesson 1: Value of Shakespeare

Lesson 1: Value of Shakespeare 

Overview

Overview Video

Key Terms

  • Hurlyburly
  • Ere
  • Heath
  • Graymalkin
  • Paddock
  • Anon
  • Direful
  • Sooth
  • Thane
  • Dismal
  • Lavish

What You Will Learn

  • Learn about William Shakespeare and his plays
  • Atmosphere - The general mood, or emotional quality, of a literary work. Playwrights create this primarily through details, such as those of setting, conveyed through dialogue.

Course Textbook

Lesson

In this lesson, you'll read about Shakespeare, one of the world's best known playwrights.  Take some time to explore all the links on this lesson page.

  1. Parents: John Shakespeare & Mary Shakespeare (nee Arden).
  2. Born: Generally accepted as 23 April 1564, as he was baptized 26 April 1564.
  3. Hometown: Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England.
  4. Wife: Anne Hathaway.
  5. Children: Susanna, Hamnet & Judith
  6. Works: 37 plays as least, 154 sonnets, many poems.
  7. Died: Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and was buried at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Interactive Materials

Use the following interactive materials to further and/or enrich your learning:

Journal Activities

Complete the following in your Course Journal:

  • Write definitions for Key Terms
  • Explore William Shakespeare's Works

Journal work is required and is worth 10% of the unit project grade.  Journal work includes summaries, textbook questions, and vocabulary.

Proceed to Next Page

Lesson 1: Value of Shakespeare

Lesson Review

Who Was Shakespeare?

Prepare for Application

Respond to the following in your Course Journal:

  1. What is one fact about Shakespeare life that you did not know before?
  2. List at least three of Shakespeare's works.
  3. What was the name of his theatre and what made it's architectural design unique?
5 Opening Scene Adaptations

 

Lesson 2: Macbeth Act 1

Lesson 2: Macbeth Act 1

Overview

Overview Video

Key Terms

  • Prophetic
  • Earnest
  • Wrack
  • Repentance
  • Plenteous
  • Harbinger
  • Peerless
  • Missive
  • Chastise
  • Metaphysical
  • Remorse

What You Will Learn

  • Understanding how the tragic hero is used in drama
  • Analyzing the atmosphere of a play
  • Tragic Hero - A character, usually of high status, who suffers a downfall as a result of a fatal character flaw, errors in judgment, or forces beyond human control.
  • Atmosphere - The general mood, or emotional quality, of a literary work. Playwrights create this primarily through details, such as those of setting, conveyed through dialogue.

Lesson & Resources

Course Textbook

Lesson

In this lesson, you’ll read Act 1 of Macbeth. Follow these steps to success:

  1. Read a summary of the overall plot, characters and Act 1 in Interactive Materials (1 day).
  2. Learn about how to do a close reading in Interactive Materials (1 day).
  3. Read Act 1 in your Textbook. Then Read Act 1 using the No Fear Shakespeare link in Interactive Materials (3 days).
  4. Watch a video summarizing the Act in Interactive Materials (1 day).
  5. Complete Journal activities in the Sidebar. Upload all the activities under one entry in the Journal tool, called 'Unit 4 Lesson 3' (3 days).
  6. Take the Practice assessment under the Tests & Quizzes menu (1 day).

Interactive Materials

Use the following interactive materials to further and/or enrich your learning:

Journal Activities

Complete the following in your Course Journal:

  • Write definitions for Key Words
  • Summarize the Act

Journal work is required and is worth 10% of the unit project grade.  Journal work includes summaries, textbook questions, and vocabulary.

Proceed to Next Page

Lesson 2: Macbeth Act 1 

Lesson Review

What is a Tragic Hero?

Prepare for Application

Respond to the following in your Course Journal:

  1. Who is the tragic hero in this story?  Why?  Explain.
  2. What is the general atmosphere in this story? Describe one example of how the author sets the atmosphere.

Act 1 Summary

Lesson 3: Macbeth Act 2

Lesson 3: Macbeth Act 2

Overview

Overview Video

Key Terms

  • Husbandry
  • Stealthy
  • Surfeited
  • Balm
  • Provoke
  • Equivocator
  • Countenance
  • Scruple
  • Predominance

What Will You Learn

  • Evaluating the credibility of characters
  • Understanding and analyzing motif
  • Motif - A significant phrase, description or image that is repeated throughout a literary work and related to its theme.

Lesson & Resources

Course Textbook

Lesson

In this lesson, you’ll read Act 2 of Macbeth. Follow these steps to success:

  • Read a summary of Act 2 and learn about symbolism and tragedy in Macbeth in Interactive Materials (2 days). 
  • Read, then re-read, Act 2 in your Textbook. Then read the Act using the No Fear Shakespeare link in Interactive Materials (3 days). 
  • Watch a video summarizing the Act and a video of Macbeth’s speech as he considers killing his King in Interactive Materials (1 day). 
  • Complete Journal activities in the Sidebar. Upload all the activities under one entry in the Journal tool, called 'Unit 4 Lesson 3' (3 days). 
  • Take the Practice assessment under the Tests & Quizzes menu (1 day). 
  • Finally, prepare to discuss this at the end of the Unit. See what you’ll be asked to know in the Reading & Discussion Sidebar (1 day)

Interactive Materials

Use the following interactive materials to further and/or enrich your learning:

Journal Activities

Complete the following in your Course Journal:

  • Write definitions for Key Terms
  • Summarize the Act

Journal work is required and is worth 10% of the unit project grade.  Journal work includes summaries, textbook questions, and vocabulary.

Proceed to Next Page

Lesson 3: Macbeth Act 2

Lesson Review

Lord of the Rings Summary

Prepare for Application

Respond to the following in your Course Journal:

  1. What motif surfaces in Macbeth? What meaning, or purpose, does it serve? Explain your reasoning.
  2. Which character has the most credibility in your opinion?  The least?  Why?

Gilgamesh Summary

 

Lesson 4: Macbeth Act 3

Lesson 4: Macbeth Act 3  

Overview

Overview Video

 

Key Terms

  • Indissoluble
  • Parricide
  • Rancor
  • Incense
  • Jovial
  • Nonpareil
  • Appall
  • Amends

What You Will Learn

  • Understanding how foils are used in drama
  • Recognizing and evaluating style
  • Foil - A minor character whose attitudes, beliefs, and behavior differ significantly from those of a main character. Through these differences, the foil helps highlight specific attributes - both good and bad - of the main character.
  • Style - The expressive qualities that make an author’s work original and distinctive. It includes word choice, sentence structures and use of figurative language or imagery.

Course Textbook

Lesson

In this lesson, you’ll read Act 3 of Macbeth. Follow these steps to success:

  1. Read a summary of Act 3 in Interactive Materials (1 day).
  2. Read, then re-read, Act 3 in your Textbook. Then read the Act using the No Fear Shakespeare link in Interactive Materials (3 days).
  3. Watch a video summarizing the Act, and a video of Banquo’s speech in Interactive Materials (1 day).
  4. Learn how to cite from a play properly, and how to make a “quote sandwich” in Interactive Materials (1 day).
  5. Complete Journal activities in the Sidebar. Upload all the activities under one entry in the Journal tool, called 'Unit 4 Lesson 4' (3 days).
  6. Take the Practice assessment under the Tests & Quizzes menu (1 day).

Interactive Materials

Use the following interactive materials to further and/or enrich your learning:

Journal Activities

Complete the following in your Course Journal:

  • Write definitions for the Key Terms
  • Summarize the Act

Journal work is required and is worth 10% of the unit project grade.  Journal work includes summaries, textbook questions, and vocabulary.

Proceed to Next Page

Lesson 4: Macbeth Act 3 

Lesson Review

What is a foil Character?

Prepare for Application

Respond to the following in your Course Journal:

  1. Who do you think is the 'foil' character in this story thus far?  Why?
  2. Summarize what has occurred in Act 3 in just a few sentences
5 Opening Scene Adaptations

 

Lesson 5: Macbeth Act 4

Lesson 5: Macbeth Act 4 

Overview

Overview Video

Key Terms

  • Gibbet
  • Pernicious
  • Exploits
  • Redress
  • Avarice
  • Pertains

What You Will Learn

  • Recognizing the elements of plot
  • Making and verifying predictions
  • Plot - The sequence of events in a narrative work. It may begin with exposition, or the introduction of the characters, setting, and conflict. The rising action adds complications to the conflicts, leading to the climax, or emotional high point. The climax gives way rapidly to its logical result in the falling action, and finally to the resolution, in which the final outcome is revealed.

Lesson & Resources

Course Textbook

Lesson

In this lesson, you’ll read Act 4 of Macbeth. Follow these steps to success: 

  1. Read a summary of Act 4 in Interactive Materials (1 day).
  2. Read, then re-read, Act 4 in your Textbook. Then read the Act using the No Fear Shakespeare link in Interactive Materials (3 days).
  3. Watch a video summarizing the Act in Interactive Materials (1 day).
  4. Complete Journal activities in the Sidebar. Upload all the activities under one entry in the Journal tool, called 'Unit 4 Lesson 5' (3 days).
  5. Take the Practice assessment under the Tests & Quizzes menu (1 day).

Interactive Materials

Use the following interactive materials to further and/or enrich your learning:

Journal Activities

Complete the following in your Course Journal:

  • Write definitions for the Key Terms
  • Summarize the Act 

Journal work is required and is worth 10% of the unit project grade.  Journal work includes summaries, textbook questions, and vocabulary.

Proceed to Next Page

Lesson 5: Macbeth Act 4 

Lesson Review

Act 4/Scene 1 Summary

Overall Plot Summary

 

Lesson 6: Macbeth Act 5

Lesson 6: Macbeth Act 5 

Overview

Overview Video

Key Terms

  • Purge
  • Epicures
  • Antidote
  • Siege
  • Prowess
  • Usurper

What You Will Learn

  • Understanding the elements of tragedy
  • Tragedy - A literary work in which the main character, or hero, suffers a downfall as a result of a tragic flaw - a character weakness, an error in judgment, or forces beyond human control.

Lesson & Resources

Course Textbook

Lesson

In this lesson, you’ll read Act 5 of Macbeth. Follow these steps to success: 

  1. Read a summary of the overall plot, characters and Act 5 in Interactive Materials (1 day).
  2. Read, then re-read, Act 5 in your Textbook. Then read the Act using the No Fear Shakespeare link in Interactive Materials (3 days).
  3. Watch a video summarizing the Act, a video of the speech “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” and a video about Macbeth’s death in Interactive Materials (1 day).
  4. Complete Journal activities in the Sidebar. Upload all the activities under one entry in the Journal tool, called 'Unit 4 Lesson 6' (3 days).
  5. Take the Practice assessment under the Tests & Quizzes menu (1 day).

Interactive Materials

Use the following interactive materials to further and/or enrich your learning:

Journal Activities

Complete the following in your Course Journal:

  • Write definitions for Key Terms
  • Summarize the Act

Journal work is required and is worth 10% of the unit project grade.  Journal work includes summaries, textbook questions, and vocabulary.

Proceed to Next Page

Lesson 6: Macbeth Act 5 

Lesson Review

What is a Tragedy?

Prepare for Application

Respond to the following in your Course Journal:

  1. Why is Macbeth a Tragedy?  What happens in the play that meets the above definition of a tragedy?
  2. What modern day story or movie do you consider to be a tragedy?  Explain.

Act 5 Summary

 

Unit 4: Knowledge Project

Unit 4: Knowledge Project 

Overview Video

Project Requirements

  • Plan to Spend (minimum):
    • Getting Started: 2 days
    • Re-reading Stories and Making Notes: 4 days
    • Outlining: 2 days
    • Creating a First Draft: 4 days
    • Revising the Draft: 2 days
    • Editing the Draft: 2 days
  • Length of Essay: 500-1250 words
  • Check your grammar! It's worth 10%. 

Getting Started 

You will be writing a thematic analysis paper, comparing and contrasting Macbeth with another piece read in this class, on a specific theme, such as knowledge or ambition.

  • Choose a theme that you’d like to examine.
  • Choose another story from anywhere in this course to compare to Macbeth which also demonstrates this theme.
  • Think about how the theme is shown in both stories.
  • What assertion does the story make about the theme?
  • What techniques does the writer use to create this assertion? For instance, characters, plot, genre, literary devices, and so on.
  • What similarities are found in both stories on the theme? What differences?
  • What can we learn about this theme by comparing and contrasting the two stories?
  • Make notes and pull out quotes to use for textual analysis. You’ll need a minimum of six for the essay. Cite each quote properly.

 

DO NOT type your assignment in the STUDENT FEEDBACK section or it will be rejected.

Attach your assignment as a Word or PDF document using correct MLA format in the ATTACHMENTS section.

Journal Attachment Update August 2025: Students are required to attach all journals from this Unit by selecting each journal in the “Attach Journal” table. If you fail to complete and attach all journal work for this Unit through this method, a point deduction will occur on this Unit Project.

 

Proceed to Next Page

Project Instructions

What to Write

  • Introduction
    • Introduce the theme you’ll be analyzing, along with the two stories
  • Body Paragraphs - 3 paragraphs 
    • Describe the assertions each story makes about the theme
    • Describe the techniques the writer uses to make this assertion
    • Describe similarities between the themes in the two stories
    • Describe differences between the themes in the two stories
    •  
    • Include a minimum of six quotes, properly cited using MLA in-text citations and include a Works Cited page   -  How to cite Shakespeare - Scroll down to view the full Purdue University Online Writing Lab MLA Style Guide
  • Conclusion
    • Analyze what can be learned about this theme by comparing these two stories

Remember To:

  • Cite your sources in MLA format
    • Click the Web Link icon for guidance with MLA Style
  • Check your grammar and spelling thoroughly (10% of your grade)

 

 

An Example of an Exemplary Essay 

THIS IS A SAMPLE PAPER FOR READING PURPOSES ONLY TO ASSIST YOU WITH YOUR ASSIGNMENT

CLICK HERE

COPYING ANY PORTION OF THIS PAPER WOULD BE BLATANT PLAGIAIRSM

Proceed to Next Page

Draft

Overview

Once you have a well­ developed outline, you can begin drafting. Drafting simply means taking all the planning you have done and getting it written out into sentences, paragraphs, and, finally, a whole essay.

The most important part of drafting is not to be critical of yourself! If you feel stuck, review your outline. If it is not completely filled out and making good sense to you, return to the Prewriting stage. If you are still very stuck, consider switching your approach. You might choose a different poetic device for one or two body paragraphs in your analysis, or, in extreme circumstances, choose a new poet.

This is a time when a lot of writers experience “writer’s block.” The best defense against “writer’s block” is good planning, which you have already done! Just get your essay written for now.

DO NOT PLAGIARIZE

Proceed to Next Page

Revise

Overview

Now that you have a first draft of your essay, it is time to become critical of yourself. First, put your essay aside or close it on your computer (make sure it is saved first!), and reflect in your journal. Write as much as you like, but cover these points:

  • How hard or easy was it to write your essay?
  • Do you like your essay the way it is?
  • What is your favorite part of your essay?
  • What parts of your essay do you not like?
  • How closely did you follow your outline? Did you find that it was better to deviate from your plan once you began writing?
  • Overall, do you feel your essay was successful?

Use your reflections to guide your revision. Improve the passages or points you thought were weak, and add anything that you did not already include according to the bullet points above.

At this stage, you should also look for other areas to improve your essay.

Pay attention to the following. Does your project:

  • Contrast Macbeth with another piece read in this Unit?
  • Have a clear theme being examined?
  • Include a minimum of six quotes, properly cited?
  • Analyze what can be learned about this theme?
  • Meet the minimum word count of 500 words?

Proceed to Next Page

Edit  

Overview

The final step of the writing process is editing. Editing is different from revising because you should not be making any large changes to your ideas or organization. This step can also be called proofreading ­ you are specifically looking for mistakes. Go through your essay and check for the following:

  • Correct capitalization.
  • Correct punctuation.
  • Check that all of your sentences are complete. You should not have any fragmented sentences.
  • Check that your ideas are connected properly. You should not have any run­-on sentences.
  • Check that your verb tenses are correct.
  • Check that every example from a poem and fact about the poet is properly cited (MLA Style).

Remember that you can 'break the rules' in your creative piece, but you cannot do so in your essay. Your essay must be polished, correct, and written in your best Academic English.

 

Unit 4 Overview: Knowledge Introduction

Unit 4 Overview: Knowledge Introduction

Getting Started

Now it is time for you to complete your Unit 4 Project. You will be writing a thematic analysis paper, comparing and contrasting Macbeth with another piece read in this class, on a specific theme, such as knowledge or ambition.

  • Choose a theme that you’d like to examine.
  • Choose another story from anywhere in this course to compare to Macbeth which also demonstrates this theme.
  • Think about how the theme is shown in both stories.
    • What assertion does the story make about the theme?
    • What techniques does the writer use to create this assertion? For instance, characters, plot, genre, literary devices, and so on.
    • What similarities are found in both stories on the theme? What differences?
    • What can we learn about this theme by comparing and contrasting the two stories?
  • Make notes and pull out quotes to use for textual analysis. You’ll need a minimum of six for the essay. Cite each quote properly.

Journal Requirement

Journal Activities are required and should be competed in your Course Journal. These assignments are worth 10% of the unit project grade, and include summaries, textbook questions, and vocabulary.

Proceed to Next Page

Unit 4: Project Review 

What to Write

  • Introduction
    • Introduce the theme you’ll be analyzing, along with the two stories
  • Body Paragraphs
    • Describe the assertions each story makes about the theme
    • Describe the techniques the writer uses to make this assertion
    • Describe similarities between the themes in the two stories
    • Describe differences between the themes in the two stories
    • Include a minimum of six quotes, properly cited
  • Conclusion
    • Analyze what can be learned about this theme by comparing these two stories

Length

  • 500 - 1500 words

Remember To

  • Check your grammar and spelling thoroughly (10% of your grade).
  • Cite quotes with MLA format. 

End of Second Semester Surveys

End of Second Semester Surveys

Required to Submit

Please go to your journal and write the date and time you submitted the video and form survey. You must provide a link to the video to complete all requirements for this course.

Video Survey

Record your video online

Video Questions

  • List the three most important things you learned from this course.
  • What didn't you like about this course?
  • Are you happy with your grade?
  • What would you change about this course? What would you add; what would you take away?
  • What would you change about the teacher of your course?
  • Would you recommend this course/school to your friends?

Options

Here are some options to use for making a video:

  1. Use your phone's camera, then upload the file to Google Docs, Sharepoint, YouTube, or any other online cloud. Afterward, you can share your link in the answer box (be sure to edit your video's settings to make it 'viewable' by others.
  2. Use https://webcamera.io/, which works online with your computer's webcam. Once finished, you can download the video to your computer, attach it below, and submit it.
  3. Create a video on www.voicethread.com. Note that by using this option, you will be able to create up to 5 free videos. When you reach your quota, you will need to remove older videos. After you create your video, please share the link in the answer box below. Check your video's settings to make it 'viewable.'

Proceed to the Next Page

End of Course Survey

 

Survey

Instructions

To finish the course, students must complete the following survey to provide us with the corresponding information to better contribute to their education. 

IMPORTANT

NOTE: To receive credit for this survey, you will need to Save the Thank for You participating page as a PDF and upload it to your journal.