Shakespeare's 'Macbeth': narrative and soliloquy writing
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Why this why now
This unit builds on pupils' understanding of play scripts introduced in the Year 3 unit 'Reading and performing scripts'. Pupils experience an authentic Shakespearean script for the first time, analysing the witches' prologue and using it as inspiration to write a narrative opening that emphasises descriptive vocabulary to capture the scene's atmosphere. Pupils write a soliloquy from Macbeth's perspective, using tense variation, imagery and rhetorical questions. This unit prepares pupils for the Year 6 unit, 'Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet': diary and narrative writing'.
Prior knowledge requirements
- William Shakespeare was a renowned English playwright, poet and actor.
- A play is a work of drama, usually consisting mostly of dialogue between characters and intended for theatrical performance.
- 'Fiction' is prose that describes imaginary events and people.
- 'Genre' means the style or category of the play.
- In a play, actors perform as the characters on stage.
- A playwright is a person who writes plays.
Threads
Why this why now
This unit builds on pupils' understanding of play scripts introduced in the Year 3 unit 'Reading and performing scripts'. Pupils experience an authentic Shakespearean script for the first time, analysing the witches' prologue and using it as inspiration to write a narrative opening that emphasises descriptive vocabulary to capture the scene's atmosphere. Pupils write a soliloquy from Macbeth's perspective, using tense variation, imagery and rhetorical questions. This unit prepares pupils for the Year 6 unit, 'Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet': diary and narrative writing'.
Prior knowledge requirements
- William Shakespeare was a renowned English playwright, poet and actor.
- A play is a work of drama, usually consisting mostly of dialogue between characters and intended for theatrical performance.
- 'Fiction' is prose that describes imaginary events and people.
- 'Genre' means the style or category of the play.
- In a play, actors perform as the characters on stage.
- A playwright is a person who writes plays.
Reading, writing & oracy
Shakespeare's 'Macbeth': narrative and 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.
17 lessons in unit
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