Macbeth help - Christmas exams?

SChique00

Hi all
My English P2 exam is on Thursday and I was wondering if anyone could give me a hand with Macbeth? It's been driving me demented ever since we started studying it - all I have atm is a generic opening line for my questions. Could someone give me a character sketch of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and possibly Macduff too because I don't understand what he represents in the play. Also, how many quotes should I learn off for this exam? I think 6 is plenty - 1 per paragraph - but should I learn off more?
Thank you

ray2012

SChique00 wrote: »

Hi all
My English P2 exam is on Thursday and I was wondering if anyone could give me a hand with Macbeth? It's been driving me demented ever since we started studying it - all I have atm is a generic opening line for my questions. Could someone give me a character sketch of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and possibly Macduff too because I don't understand what he represents in the play. Also, how many quotes should I learn off for this exam? I think 6 is plenty - 1 per paragraph - but should I learn off more?
Thank you

Eh, you could make character profiles about the few main characters, they really help. Have like a section in your notes for it. Give the action that happened (e.g Macbeth kills Duncan - tries to put his conscience to sleep), where (what act, scence, page number for reference if you need to look it up in the book when studying) and a quote (e.g ''let not light see my black and deep desires!''). They really help, and honestly don't take too long to make. Spend a weekend doing a lot of work on them and it'll pay off. Macbeth is a ''valiant cousin'', a ''worthy gentleman'' at the beginning of the text, and by the end he is a ''tyrant'' who ''smack's every sin that ever had a name''. After you do a few Macbeth answers, the quotes become fairly easy to remember; you don't really have to sit down and learn them off. Just know the main ones which you could put into any answers; e.g How Macbeth brought chaos to Scotland, how he was once an honourable soldier, Lady Macbeth's influence on Macbeth, Macduff/Malcolm's hatred towards Macbeth, etc. If you understand the story, the plot, and also enjoy it, you won't find it too hard to master. Practice answering exam questions and it should give you an indication to the type of questions that may come up in the future. Macduff represents the force that restores goodness and calmness back to Scotland by the way, after Macbeth's reign as king. Also, you should know more quotes than 6, in my opinion. You'd be stuck with learning only 6 quotes, and then a type of question coming up in an exam which isn't what you had prepared and you can't use your quotes. Remember that quotes can also be one or two words only, for example, Macbeth, the known ''tyrant'' was influenced hugely by his wife, Lady Macbeth. He was once ''too full of the milk of human kindness''. They don't have to be long and complicated quotes; they just have to back-up your point. The questions that can be asked on Macbeth are quite limited, just prepare a few answers and make sure you'd be able to twist that answer into an answer of a question you've never done before, like if a tough question came up in an exam question. Make sure you know the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, they're the two main ones, in my opinion. :cool:

JackTheGrinder

Somewhere along the line, my brain seems to have merged macduff wih malcolm? Who is the hero? Can someone clarify what happens to macduff and where malcolm comes from?

DavidDaly

Quick question is regard to Macbeth I was told by a teacher that if you even do a small bit of storytelling (which I have the tendency to do a tiny bit) it will knock down your grade to a D immediately. Is this true?

JackTheGrinder

DavidDaly wrote: »

Quick question is regard to Macbeth I was told by a teacher that if you even do a small bit of storytelling (which I have the tendency to do a tiny bit) it will knock down your grade to a D immediately. Is this true?

no of course not that severe use some common sense. the techer is clearly trying to discourage you from storytelling... just dont do it in the first place