Note that student work varies significantly from one assignment to the next, even within the same
mark range. The intent behind providing samples such as this one is to guide students in
recognizing key criteria of assignments and in assessing their own work.
SAMPLE QUOTATION ANALYSIS – GOOD
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Strengths:
• Explanations are used to connect the direct references to the larger ideas of significance
(thinking).
• Sound connections are made with the rest of the play (thinking).
• You smoothly integrate quotations into surrounding explanations (application).
• Clear overall structure of paragraphs is evident (communication).
Tips for Improvement:
• Include more detailed information about context in the introduction (knowledge).
• Make more connections in the analysis to the text and the larger work (thinking).
• Avoid contractions in formal writing (communication).
• Combine ideas to increase sentence complexity (communication).
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Besides, this Duncan
Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been
So clear in his great office, that his virtues
Will plead like angels trumpet-tongued, against
The deep damnation of his taking-off;
And pity, like a naked new-born babe,
Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, horsed
Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,
That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself,
And falls on the other. (1.7.16-27)
This quotation is taken from the final scene of the Act I of Macbeth, after Lady Macbeth
has shared her plan for Macbeth to murder King Duncan. Macbeth is alone, speaking about
Duncan, and why he should not murder him.
Macbeth reveals that he is a good man who knows right from wrong and knows that he
should not kill his king. He also reveals that he is an ambitious man who wants more power. The
king is the head of the country, and Macbeth is both trusted by King Duncan and has recently
been promoted by him due to great works on the battlefield. Duncan is showing his pleasure with
Macbeth by coming to his castle to visit. Macbeth has just listed several reasons why he
shouldn’t kill Duncan, and in this passage he discusses how Duncan is a really wonderful leader.
This shows that Macbeth is really a good person since he can appreciate good things in other
people. He says that “Duncan/ Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been/ So clear in his great
office, that his virtues/ Will plead like angels [….] against/ The deep damnation”. Duncan is
gentle and easy to understand. Macbeth also says that he is a virtuous man. Macbeth reveals that
he knows this through his speech when he says that if he kills him, everyone will be so upset that
their “tears shall drown the wind”. Macbeth is able to realize how upset everyone will be if
Duncan is murdered, and how wrong this deed is. He is talking himself out of the murder
because he is a good man who knows right from wrong. However, even though Macbeth knows
he should not kill the king, his speech reveals that he is ambitious and wants to become king
himself when he says, “I have no spur/ To prick the sides of my intent, but only/ Vaulting
ambition”. These words explicitly tell us that Macbeth wants to kill Duncan. His ambition is also
implied by the fact that he is even giving this speech. This is like a pro and con discussion where
he weighs the merits of killing the king against the negatives. If he didn’t truly want to murder
his king just so he could become king himself, he wouldn’t need to talk himself out of it. Even
though he talks himself out of the murder in this passage, his reasons reveal that he is an
ambitious man.
Macbeth's speech is also significant because he foreshadows his own downfall. When
Macbeth says that his ambition “o’erleaps itself,/ And falls on the other”, the audience can
understand that “the other” refers to Macbeth. He is saying that his ambition is going to fall on
the other side, but since he doesn’t finish his thought, it seems like he is saying that his ambition
will fall on him instead. This shows that Macbeth will be destroyed by his ambition, so if he kills
the King, he will be destroyed by the same action. This actually happens at the end of the play
when Macbeth’s men turn against him and overthrow him, thus confirming that this passage is a
foreshadowing of his later demise.
Work Cited
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1999. Print.