Another Idea for E-text Macbeth, Act V

Hello again!

So, we've wrapped up Macbeth. I get the research papers tomorrow and will see how effectively my students grasped the material (fingers crossed!). We've had some excellent discussions, great insights, and, of course, many questions and a few frustrations. But overall, the class did impressively well with some weighty material, and provided some surprisingly clever analysis.

Since I have been working with a digital text (Gleeditions), I've been discussing with peers here and elsewhere about how to use it to maximum effect in the classroom. And for Act V, I tried something new.

I projected two of the most powerful passages on the screen in front of the room--Lady Macbeth's "Out, damned spot!" lines (V, i, 34-38), and Macbeth's "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow" speech (19-28), and we closely read them, word-for-word, line-by-line, as a group. It was really wonderful to project the lines on screen and be able to "show" how to closely read them. I think it clicked for many who are visual learners, and made concrete the process of interacting with a text and "unpeeling" the layers of meaning. We had a very lively discussion of the meaning of "blood," as well as the light and dark imagery, in Lady Macbeth's speech, and how it shows a change in her character. For Macbeth, we discussed both what his outlook on life is at this point in the play, and what Shakespeare might be trying to say to his audience through Macbeth. The phrasing and word choice of that passage is just so powerful, and I wanted students to savor and dissect it so they really felt the impact and appreciated the skill it takes to write something that amazing.

After our discussion of elements and themes,  I had the students quick write an analysis based on our close reading. Specifically, I asked them to relate Macbeth's speech to the last lines of The Great Gatsby (which we just finished). Their research paper is a comparison based on the two texts, so I wanted to scaffold that process.

Responses were deeply considered and, as I'd hoped, included close reading of some elements from the passages.

To me, using a digital text is ideal because it allows me to interact with it in a meaningful way with the class and demonstrate how to read closely. This text in particular is extremely helpful because of the format--it's color-coded and well-designed, so it appeals to those visual learners, and it is easy to see on screen. The graphics add a great dimension as well, and help reinforce how important Shakespeare's work is (it has been painted and produced for centuries and many of those works are represented on the pages).

Once I get the papers in, I'll report the results. I will also be getting some evaluations of the Gleedition, so I'll share that feedback as well.

Thanks for the input, everyone--it's been so helpful! I've gotten some excellent sources from many of you and I hope to learn more about how you teach with technology--specifically with digital texts--in your classrooms. I have a new project in the fall that I'm excited about, based on creating an "underground newspaper" on the Web for a critical thinking class... But more on that soon!

Have a wonderful week!