‘MACBETH’
PLANNING THE ESSAY
PLANNING YOUR ESSAY
• Before you write your essay, it is essential that you plan
your essay thoroughly
• You need to think carefully about the question and the
way you are going to respond to it.
• This helps to ensure that you:
• Answer the question properly
• Stay on track with your paragraphs
• Include evidence to support your points and
• write a great essay!
STEP ONE- KEY WORDS
• Write out the question and underline or circle the key
words in the question.
• What do these words mean? Look them up if you are
not sure what they mean.
• Can you think of other words that mean the same thing
(synonyms)? Make a list of them on your planning sheet.
• Your turn:
• The lust for power can lead to the destruction of
individuals and society. Discuss.
STEP TWO –
UNDERSTANDING THE QUESTION
• Write out what you think the question means in your own
words. You can use the synonyms you came up with before.
• This helps to make sure that you understand exactly what the
question is asking you to do.
• Also, identify the type of question you are responding to:
•
•
•
•
Character
Theme
Author’s views and values
Structures, features and conventions
Your turn:
• Type of question?
• Rewrite in your own words: The lust for power can lead to the
destruction of individuals and society. Discuss.
STEP THREE- BRAINSTORMING
• Brainstorm the question carefully and thoroughly
• Write down any themes, characters, scenes, quotes
etc. that come to mind when thinking about the
question
• You can use a visual diagram or thinking tool to
map out and order your ideas
• Thinking tool examples:
• Flowchart e.g.
At the
beginning
middle
End
STEP THREE- BRAINSTORMING CONT.
idea
• Concept map
idea
idea
CHANGES
idea
idea
• Venn diagram (for comparisons)
• Fishbone diagram
Macbeth
at start
Macbeth
at end
Your turn: The lust for power can lead to the destruction of
individuals and society. Discuss.
Brainstorm without the play: themes, characters, scenes, quotes etc.
STEP FOUR- FORM YOUR CONTENTION
• In one sentence, write out your response to the essay
question.
• You can either: (depending of 3 or 4 body paragraphs)
•
•
•
•
Totally agree(yes, yes, yes)
Partially agree (mostly agree with a ‘however’ paragraph)
Totally disagree (no, no, no)
Partially disagree (mostly disagree with a ‘however’ paragraph)
• That means you could choose to partially dis/agree with
the question to provide an alternative point and your
contention must show this
• State your opinion but do not use the word ‘I’. Try to use
different vocabulary in your contention to the words in the
question (not essential)
Your turn:
CLEVER CONTENTIONS
The lust for power can lead to the destruction of
individuals and society. Discuss.
• Make your contention crystal clear; try not to use
‘however’ or equivalents such as ‘except’ or ‘but’ as
these can make contentions confusing
• To include a ‘however’ response, try approaching
the writing of your contention in a less simplistic way –
not just yes or no e.g.
• “It is only when ambition becomes the sole drive of a
character, that it leads to the downfall of not only
themselves, but the whole of society”. This implies that other
characters might have ambition, but that it hasn’t taken over
and so their life/ the order of the world is in tact.
STEP FIVE – FORM ARGUMENTS
• Once you have your contention, brainstorm three/
four points that will back up your contention (three/
four reasons why your contention is true)
• If you are including a ‘however’ paragraph, ensure
you develop an argument for this idea as well
• These arguments will become your body
paragraphs
• Use your thinking notes from your brainstorming step
STEP FIVE – FORM ARGUMENTS CONT.
• Remember the difference between arguments and
evidence
• The evidence is what the author says: literal
• The leaves are red and yellow. What colour are the leaves?
• The argument is what that evidence proves: inferential
• The leaves are red and yellow. What season is it?
• Think of an argument and (for now) start it with: this
evidence proves that…
• At a later stage, you can develop these into topic
sentences
• Your turn:
FORMING ARGUMENTS CONT.
IDEAS RATHER THAN EVIDENCE BASED
Scene/ Evidence
Argument based on an idea
• Macbeth and Lady
Macbeth
Individuals lose their sense of
self
• Macbeth and Lady
Macbeth plus Macbeth and
Banquo
Relationships can be corrupted
• Duncan’s murder results in
wild horses etc., weather,
Scotland’s downfall
The natural order is disturbed if
the Chain of Being is disturbed
• However: Banquo and
Malcolm
However: maintain
perspective/ other important
things in life than just power e.g.
friendship, family, etc.
ARGUMENTS CONT.
APPROACHING TEEEEL
• Student sample: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth lust for
power which leads to the destruction of themselves as
individuals.
Destruction of individuals
• What is the argument?
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
• What is the evidence?
• We shouldn’t have evidence in a topic sentence, should
we?!
• How could we make this a TEEEEL argument?
Some characters destroy their lives in their desperate attempts
to gain and maintain a position of power.
• Now, what is the evidence for a TEEEEL paragraph?
E.g. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
ARGUMENTS CONT.
IDEAS VS. EVIDENCE
• If you can’t think of an ideas-based argument for
your topic sentence:
• Stick with your contention and evidence for your topic
sentence e.g. “Macbeth and Lady Macbeth lust for power
which leads to the destruction of themselves as individuals”.
• If you can think of an ideas-based argument for
your topic sentence:
• This adds an extra layer to your thinking and puts you
ahead of the curve! E.g. “Many characters destroy their
lives in their desperate attempts to gain and maintain a
position of power”.
STEP SIX – FINDING EVIDENCE
• Finally, choose the quotes that best support the points you
have made
• Make sure you have at least 2 quotes per paragraph and at
least one quote for every time to make a claim or statement
about a character or refer to a specific scene. However, you
should be aiming for 3 quotes per paragraph by this stage to
add more depth to your argument
• Write the quotes out in full so that you can work with them
and then try to embed them when you write your essay
• Remember: 10 words or less
• To smoothly embed quotes, you can use: …
[]
:
• Your turn:
Brainstorm with the play:
The lust for power can lead to the destruction of
individuals and society. Discuss.
STEP SEVEN -PLANNING YOUR
INTRODUCTION
• Your introduction should explain your response to the
question and outline your reasons
• You must make sure that whatever you mention in
your introduction is explained in your body
paragraphs
PLANNING THE INTRODUCTION
• Things to include:
• Mention the name of the text (in single quotation marks‘Macbeth’) and the author’s first and surname (surname
only from then on) as well as the fact that it is a play
• State your contention clearly:
• E.g. William Shakespeare demonstrates/highlights
how/that...[insert contention]
• Outline the main points from your planning (your body
paragraphs).This could be done by listing them in one
sentence or a sentence that introduces each point:
• This is revealed/developed through/by [list main points].
• Optional but recommended: Mention the author’s
views/values shown in the text:
• Shakespeare illustrates that ...[insert what you think the author’s
message is – in relation to the question]
INTRODUCTION SAMPLE
• ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare explores the
idea that power can corrupt…
• A lust for power is explored through the play
‘Macbeth’…
1. First argument
2. Second argument
3. Third argument
• Shakespeare suggests that it can be difficult to rein
in ambition…
STEP EIGHT -PLANNING YOUR
BODY PARAGRAPHS/ REBUTTAL
• Your body paragraphs are where you really explore
and explain your ideas
• You need to structure them according to TEEEEL to
ensure your ideas make sense
• They must contain evidence from the text to show
that the author agrees with your viewpoints
• Remember, you may wish to include a ‘however’
paragraph
PLANNING THE BODY PARAGRAPHS
• Things to include: think TEEEEL (repeat explanation/ evidence)
• Paragraph starter
• E.g. Firstly, furthermore, conversely, additionally, although, despite, etc.
• Topic sentence
• State the contention and the specific argument for that paragraph
• Explanation
• Using your own words, explore your argument in more detail
• Evidence
• Prove your argument with a quote or specific scene which demonstrates
this idea
• Paragraph finisher
• E.g. Clearly, thus, ultimately
• Linking sentence
• Restate how this argument supports your contention
• Possibly, discuss the author’s views and values about this idea
BODY PARAGRAPH SAMPLE
• Topic sentence:
• Firstly, some characters destroy their lives in their desperate attempts to gain and maintain
a position of power.
• Evidence:
• Macbeth is initially a man who “smack[s] of honour” and Lady Macbeth is also
“honoured” in King Duncan’s eyes.
• Explanation:
• They both hold a high position of power within the Great Chain of Being. Macbeth holds
the position of Thane of Glamis and his battle prowess is celebrated with the reward of the
title: Thane of Cawdor. Upon hearing the Witches prophesies however, Macbeth and his
wife begin to take drastic measures to ensure greater power rather than allowing time
and fate to take its course.
• Evidence:
• As a result of their treacherous murders that upset the Chain, Macbeth “shall sleep no
more” and Lady Macbeth’s “slumbery agitation” is highlighted by her sleep-walking and
sleep-talking.
• Explanation:
• Sleep, Shakespeare’s symbol of innocence, no longer plays a part in Macbeth nor Lady
Macbeth’s life. Their souls are corrupted and therefore cannot partake in this natural act.
• Linking sentence:
• Clearly, Shakespeare highlights the dangers of losing one’s self to the perils of an ambition
driven life. He argues that “measure, time, and place” should be allowed to take their
course.
STEP NINE -PLANNING YOUR
CONCLUSION
• You must make sure that whatever you mention in
your conclusion has already been explained in your
body paragraphs – this is to ensure that your essay
has responded to the question
• Restate your contention and the arguments that
support this viewpoint and tie them all together
• It should contain varied vocabulary and sentence
structures to those that have been used earlier in
your essay
• It must NOT introduce new information
• It could examine the author’s views and values
about this topic
• It should draw a conclusion / make an observation
CONCLUSION SAMPLE
• ‘Macbeth’ underlines the importance…
1. First argument
2. Second argument
3. Third argument
• Whilst ambition is important, Shakespeare promotes
the idea that it must be balanced alongside other
priorities…
STEP TEN – POLISHING
METALANGUAGE AND EDITING
• Q: Do I need to use words like ‘protagonist’?
• A: Yes!
• Metalanguage is:
• language used to describe language
• the labels we use to help understand the concepts we are talking about
• It includes words such as:
• Character, protagonist, antagonist
• Narrative structure: orientation, exposition, rising action, turning point,
complication, falling action, resolution
• Setting, plot, characterisation, novel (not book, story etc.), author, author’s views
and values
• Symbol, motif
• Structures, features, conventions: Act, Scene, Line, soliloquy, aside, metaphors,
similes, imagery, exaggeration,, sentence length and structure, assonance,
atmosphere, tone, onomatopoeia, adjectives, adverbs, allusion etc.
• Try to use this metalanguage to analyse Shakespeare’s use of techniques
(symbolism, imagery etc.) and the effects on the audience
• Editing
• Spelling, grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, fluency, expression, relevance etc.