College English IV
Macbeth: Comparison/Contrast Paragraph
Assignment: Compare or contrast two characters from Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth
Step 1:
Choose a topic:
Two characters - _____________________ & ____________________
compare or contrast - ________________________________________
Step 2:
Write a topic sentence – be sure your t.s. includes the FULL title of the play
(underlined or italicized), the full name of the author, and the topic you will prove
throughout your paragraph.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Step 3:
Organize your ideas.
Topic Sentence
Supporting Detail 1
Quote
Explanation
Clincher
Supporting Detail 2
Quote
Quote
Explanation
Supporting Detail 3
Quote
Quote
Explanation
Quote
Step 4:
Write a rough draft
Step 5:
Revise and edit
Be certain to:
 write in present tense
 fully explain your supporting details, quotations, and how they
support your topic sentence
 not use contractions, slang, or vague terms
 properly cite your quotations
 spell/grammar/punctuation check
Internal Documentation
Shakespeare
Punctuation
Example
comma
- Malcolm replies, “This is the sergeant…” (1.2.4).
- “This is the sergeant...,”Malcolm replies (1.2.4).
colon
- Malcolm informs the king that sergeant is there: “This is the sergeant…” (1.2.4).
nothing
- Malcolm informs the king that the man with them “is the sergeant” when the king
asks (1.2.4).
Type
Example
Quoting 2-3
lines
The captain reports, “Doubtful it stood, / As two spent swimmers, that do cling together / And choke their
art” (1.2.8-9).
Quoting 4 or
more lines
When he is asked the condition of the war by King Duncan, the captain reports the latest news:
Doubtful it stood,
As two spent swimmers, that do cling together
And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald –
Worthy to be a rebel for to that
That multiplying villainies of nature
Do Swarm upon him – from the Western Isles
Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied;
(1.2.8-13)
*no slashes
*no quotes
*no endmark
Quoting two
or more
characters
When the first scene of the play opens, three witches contemplate where they will meet in the future and
the purpose of this meeting:
First Witch: When shall we three meet again?
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
Second Witch: When the hurlyburly’s done,
When the battle’s lost and won.
Third Witch: Where the place?
Second Witch: Upon the heath.
Third Witch: There to meet with Macbeth. (1.1.1-8)
*Quotes are double spaced the same as the rest of the document.
Directions: Correctly punctuate each of the following quotes.
1. The captain compares Macbeth’s and Banquo’s fears of King Sweno’s attack to that of
animals’ fears of one another “Yes; / As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion” (1.2.3435).
2. When Lennox appears to Malcolm and King Duncan, Malcolm says “The worthy Thane
of Ross” (1.2.45).
3. “I’ll give them a wind” says the Second Witch to the First Witch (1.3.11).
4. When telling her sisters about the sailor’s wife, the First Witch says that the sailor’s wife
“mounched, and mounched, and mounched” (1.3.4).
5. Macbeth refers to his difficult day as both “fair” and “foul” (1.3.38).
6. The three witches greet Macbeth with three different titles
First Witch: All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!
Second Witch: All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!
Third Witch: All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!
(1.3.47-49)
7. Not understanding the words of the witches, Macbeth demands the witches to “Stay, you
imperfect speakers, tell me more” (1.3.70).
8. Ross informs Macbeth “The king hath happily received, Macbeth, / The news of thy
success” (1.3.89-90).
9. Ross informs Macbeth how happy King Duncan is to hear the good news “The king hath
happily received, Macbeth, / The news of thy success” (1.3.89-90).
10. Macbeth confides to the audience “If chance will have me King, why, chance my crown
me, / Without my stir” (1.3.143).