Due: Each act’s journal will be due upon the completion of the act. Dates will be
announced.
Macbeth Journal
During the course of reading Macbeth, you will complete the following “journal”
assignment. Sometimes we will read scenes in class and sometimes you will be
assigned reading as homework. For each of the five acts of the play, you will be
required to write a one page journal comprising of plot summary (Part One) of the act
(in your own words; no more than half a page) and one of the other options listed
below (Part Two). Throughout the course of the play you must complete each option
listed below. If you’d like to do more than two per act, that is absolutely fine.
Complete sentences are required for all entries. These must be typed and doublespaced in 12 point Times font.
15 points each/75 points total
Part One: Each journal entry must include a plot summary (5 points)
Part Two: Choose a different option for each act (10 points)
A. A diary entry for one of the major characters (recording in diary form what the
character is doing and feeling in his or her voice/as that character).
B. A character development journal noting traits, changes, interaction with other
characters, interaction with the themes of the play, the character’s use of
language, etc. throughout the act/play.
C. Connection to one or more of the themes of the play (how they relate to the play
and the modern world)
a. Things are not what they seem/appearance vs. reality
b. Ambition
c. Power corrupts
d. Temptation
e. Guilt
f. Any other theme you can identify
D. Writing about one of the symbols/motifs in the play (identify the symbol or motif,
list quotes in which it appears, discuss how the symbol furthers the development
of the plot, character, and theme). Ideas: clothing, light/dark, sickness, the
unnatural, blood, animals, etc.
E. A response journal (writing about your personal reactions to the play, characters,
etc.)