POST CARD

Dear ms caldwell,

i am understanding that ambition and the desire to have something can be a very dangerous thing if used the wrong way. If you have ambition, and you desire something and you work hard to get it, you will get it. No matter how high, if you work hard, you will get it. However it can turn people the wrong way. For example in Macbeth, he wants to be King. But its not as easy as he would have hoped, so Macbeth has to kill the King to become the King. Ambition is the ability to climb as high as you can dream, and many people have that ability, while some use it the wrong way.

From Ryan

Act 1, Scene 5, Lines 41-56

Lady Macbeth: [Exit Messenger]

"The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan under my battlements. Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood, Stop up th’access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between Th’ effect and it. Come to my woman’s breasts, And take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers, Wherever in your sightless substances you wait on nature’s mischief. Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, To cry ‘Hold, hold!’"

[Enter Macbeth]

This passage is very powerful, and shows a lot of Lady Macbeth's ambition, as she is willing to do whatever it takes to get the throne, even if that includes murder. Macbeth is usually wavering on whether he should kill to seize the throne or not, but you see here that Lady Macbeth has the ambition to push Macbeth forward and kill Duncan and gain royalty. This connects to me personally because I am usually wavering on decisions, and I don't usually know how far I am willing to go to get what I want. Now I can see ambition, and how far Lady Macbeth is willing to go to get what she desires. I am not willing to kill, that's a crime, but I now see how far I can go.

I really prefer the movie Macbeth after reading Act1 scenes 1,2,3. For me personally I learn better through visuals rather than reading things, and I found the movie a lot more interesting. One difference I noticed was the book spoke of thunder and lightning while the movie did not. It was strange since when watching/reading Romeo and Juliet in grade 9, the movie and the novel were almost identical. So the movie was much easier because of the visuals, while the book was much harder because of the language used.

Desire

The thing i desire most is to be respected amongst all of my peers. Maybe I already am, but I don't know for sure so I still desire it. As far as how far would I go to get what i desire, I think that my actions will do the talking. If someone doesn't like me, that's fine, but I'm not going to go out of my way to get them to respect me. I'll go about life the same way I always have, certain people will like that and certain people won't, and I'm not going to get mad at the people who don't like me becaue that is their opinion and they are entitled to it. So to answer the question, I would go as far as being myself, not acting any differently to get people to like me.

Response

I am now wondering what made you think those things. Can you bring in any examples to support your predictions? I do think you are on the right path. DId you enjoy this type of prereading assignment?

Exit Slip

Now after doing this, I think Macbeth is about a person who goes through many troubles in life, and deals with power, ambition, integrity, self worth and loyalty.

MacBeth and Shakespeare

To be honest, I know absolutely nothing about MacBeth, but I would like to learn. About Shakespeare, I have read and/or seen A midsummer nights dream and romeo and juliet. I would like to better understand the old english language that is present in these plays.

Response

Hi
It worked.
Loyalty is needed to sustain long term traditions. I would love for you to develop this point and explain this some more. It is so true. As you have noted in the"Lottery" they are loyal to their tradition even if it involves killing a family member. DO you think they see it that way. Do you think that they are afraid of change and if so why. Why are people loyal? These are just some things to think about.