a form of art that involves live performances by actors on a stage in front of an audience

a dramatic work originally intended for the stage

a ruler who holds supreme and hereditary power over a state or territory, often referred to as a king or queen

Understanding the context of Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'

English

In 'Macbeth', pupils learn about character, plot and theme in a Shakespearean play for the first time. In 'Shakespeare's ’Romeo and Juliet’: Diary and Narrative Writing', pupils will learn how Shakespeare explores multiple key themes throughout a single play.’

In 'The Highwayman: Narrative Writing', pupils developed their understanding of how to create atmosphere and engage the reader using figurative language. In 'Shakespeare's ’Macbeth’: Narrative and Soliloquy Writing', pupils will use figurative language to write a narrative based on Shakespearean tragedy and convey characters' thoughts and feelings through soliloquy writing.

In this unit, pupils have their first taste of Shakespearean play scripts. They analyse the witches' prologue of this iconic play as a starting point for writing a narrative opening. Pupils investigate the central character, writing a soliloquy based on Macbeth's famous dagger monologue.

Shakespeare's 'Macbeth': narrative and soliloquy writing

a central idea that the writer intends the audience to engage deeply with

Understanding themes, characters and plot in Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'

refers to the stage of English language used from approximately the late 15th century to the late 17th century

a sequence of continuous action in a play, film, opera or book

an instruction in a play script indicating the movement, position or tone of an actor or the sound effects and lighting

Exploring characters and setting in the opening scene of 'Macbeth'

a naming word for people, places or things

the physical abilities of sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste

Generating vocabulary for the opening of 'Macbeth'

the use of simile, metaphor and personification to create vivid imagery

Planning part one of the opening of 'Macbeth'

a sentence formed of at least one main clause and a subordinate clause

a sentence starter that tells the reader where something is or happens

Writing part one of the opening of 'Macbeth'

a pair of punctuation marks that signal direct speech to the reader

a clause that tells the reader who said the speech sentence and how

Planning part two of the opening of 'Macbeth'

a punctuation mark used to show if a noun belongs to another noun

Writing part two of the opening of 'Macbeth'

the process of improving writing to improve text flow and overall quality

a set of standardised symbols and marks used in written language to structure sentences

refers to the way words are arranged and organised within sentences to convey meaning

the use of specific words and phrases to convey a meaning

Peer editing the opening of a narrative based on ‘Macbeth’

the leading character or one of the major characters in a narrative

using reasoning or evidence to draw conclusions

Analysing the main character in 'Macbeth'

a speech in a play where the character speaks to himself or herself

a struggle within a person's mind over a problem or question

the feeling of excitement or nervousness that you have when you are waiting for something to happen

to control something or someone to your advantage, often unfairly or dishonestly

Analysing a scene in the build-up of 'Macbeth'

an act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play

a long speech by one actor in a play or film

unrhymed poetry written in iambic pentameter

a style of writing poems in lines of ten syllables with emphasis on the second, fourth, sixth, eighth and tenth syllable

Identifying the features of a soliloquy

a question asked to the reader that does not expect an answer

Planning and writing the 'against' section of Macbeth's soliloquy

a type of auxiliary verb that helps us to talk about how likely, possible, necessary or obligatory something is

a sentence formed of a main clause and an adverbial subordinate clause

Planning and writing the 'for' section of Macbeth's soliloquy

a type of subordinate clause that can start with a verb in the progressive tense

Planning and writing the closing thoughts of Macbeth's soliloquy

the way words are arranged and organised within sentences to convey meaning

Peer editing a soliloquy based on 'Macbeth'

the act of presenting or reciting in front of an audience, using voice, gestures and expression

a form of non-verbal communication communicated via the face to convey a range of emotions

bringing words to life to engage a listener

Shakespeare's 'Macbeth': narrative and soliloquy writing

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These lessons will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.