Shakespeare Comic Book Lesson 1 1. Starter Use the internet to answer the following questions: 1.Where and when was William Shakespeare born? 2.On what.

Shakespeare Comic Book

Lesson 1

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StarterUse the internet to answer the following questions:1. Where and when was William

Shakespeare born?2. On what date did he die?3. Was he married?4. What were his children called?5. What is another name for his

play commonly called “The Scottish Play”?

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Objective of the lessonUnderstand the story of Macbeth and start to

plan a comic book of the play.

• All of you will:– Be able to pick out a couple of main events in Macbeth

• Most of you will:– Work as part of a team to pick out all of the main events in

Macbeth

• Some of you will:– Start to plan the scenes you want to use in your comic book

and decide who will be in each scene and the props needed.

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• Everybody should complete Task 1 on the sheet and create a 3 part comic strip about an event that happened to you this week

• Some of you may also wantto get the extra marks by completing the extension activity.

• This homework is due in next lesson.

• Make sure you have writtenyour homework clearly in your planner.

Homework

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Your Task• You are going to be working in teams to create

a comic book to show the story of Macbeth.• You are going to plan each image you want to

include in your comic book, then you are going to use digital cameras to take photographs of your team re-enacting the key moments in the story of Macbeth. Finally you will put those images together to make the comic book.

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Macbeth• Macbeth was written by William Shakespeare in

1605.• It is set in Scotland in the eleventh century.• You are going to hear the story of Macbeth and

must pick out the different parts of the play which will form each scene in your comic book.

• Use the planning sheet to write down key points you need to get across in your comic book.

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Planning your comic book• You need to pick out the most relevant

parts of the story so that you can show them in your comic.

• Use the planning sheet to write down all the key points that you think are most relevant as you listen to the story.

• There are 21 slides to tell you the story so you may want to write down a key point from each slide or you may want to arrange them in a different way. It is up to you.

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Macbeth(also known as

“The Scottish Play”)

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The three witches waited at the edge of the battlefield. They watched the Scottish army beat Norway and they enjoyed listening to the groans of the dying.“He will be here soon” said one.“I hear the sound of hooves” another cried out.“Let the spell begin” screeched the third witch.

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Two Scottish generals rode away from the battlefield.One was Macbeth, the bravest soldier in King Duncan’s army.The other was Banquo, his companion. Both were tired and upset by the day’s slaughter.

“A hard fight to protect an old and feeble king, if I ruled Scotland…” Macbeth started daydreaming about being crowned King of Scotland.

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The witches leapt out in front of the generals.“What do you want?” demanded Macbeth.“All hail Macbeth, who shall be king of Scotland! All hail Banquo, your children shall also be kings!” chanted the witches.

Macbeth was startled that they had read his mind and knew he secretly dreamed of being the King of Scotland.

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“Only King Duncan and his sons stand between me and the crown! My wife must know about this I will write to her tonight!” thought Macbeth.When Lady Macbeth receivedthe letter informing her thatMacbeth had been told he will one day become King of Scotlanda plot began to formed in her wicked mind. “We can have it all” she whispered, “if only Macbeth was strong enough to do what needs to be done in order for him to become king”.

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Suddenly, there was a knock at Lady Macbeth’s door and a servant entered her room. “Lord Macbeth has invited the King for a banquet tomorrow night.” said the servant.“What?” gasped Lady Macbeth “We must hurry and get ready.”

When the servant had left to get things ready Lady Macbeth murmured “Come to me, Powers of Darkness, fill me with cruelty so I can teach my husband how to be ruthless.”

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When Macbeth arrived home Lady Macbeth whispered to him “King Duncan is old and weak. Kill the King whilst he sleeps and blame it on his sons, then you can become King yourself.”

“No, I can never commit murder” cried Macbeth.“Yes you can, it’s easy. You will drug the guards so they fall into a deep sleep and then you kill the old King and take the throne.”

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After everybody else was asleep, Macbeth crept along the corridors. “Tis the hour of the wolf and the witch, when evil spirits roam the night” he thought.

Just then he saw something ahead of him in the corridor, glowing. It was a dagger floating in mid air and shining with a green light. “This is a trick of the mind” thought Macbeth, but as he tried to grab the knife it floated away and pointed to the King’s room.

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When Macbeth returned from killing the King he was holding two daggers, dripping with theKing’s blood.“You should not have brought the daggers here” said Lady Macbeth

“I’ll put them on the guards as we planned.”After a while Lady Macbeth returned, covered in blood and her face was full of triumph and cruelty.

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The next morning the alarm was raised: “Murder! The King has been killed!”Shocked guests ran from their rooms and people started chatting about who could have done it.Rumours flew around the castle and people started to believed that the Kings sons had killed the king as they were tired of waiting for him to die naturally so they could take over the throne.The sons however suspected Macbeth but couldn’t prove it so instead they ran for their lives.Macbeth was crowned King of Scotland as there was nobody else in line for the throne once the sons had run away.

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Macbeth’s dream had come true and the three witches were right, but he wondered if they were also correct about predicting that Banquo’s children will also become kingone day.“I must find a way to rid myself of him and his son” thought Macbeth and darkthoughts started to form inhis mind but this time hekept them secret – even from Lady Macbeth.

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Macbeth decided to hold a huge feast to celebrate becoming King of Scotland and he invited everybody – even Banquo. His plan was to hire two murderers to ambush Banquo and his son when they were on the way to the celebrations.

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Whilst the feast was taking place a servant told Macbeth that two men wanted to see him. Macbeth realised that this must be the two thugs that he had hired to kill Banquo and so hurried to meet them in a private room.The murderers told Macbeth that they had done as he had asked: “We cut his throat and threw his body in a ditch.”“What about his son?” asked Macbeth anxiously.“He escaped my lord. Banquo’s son still lives.” replied the murderers.

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Macbeth returned to the feast, troubled by this news and was surprised to see a hooded figure seated in his chair.“Who dares sit in my place?” he roared across the hall at the figure.The guests fell silent and looked confused as the King’s chair was empty and they could not see anybody sitting there.

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“Why … no one is in your chair” said Lady Macbeth. She could tell that Macbeth was not feeling well but to cover up for this she announced to the guests “The King is joking.”

Macbeth ignored her and walked towards the figure seated in his chair he could still see in his chair then drew back the hood.He saw Banquo, with weed from the ditch tangled in his hair and a deep cut across his neck.“Get back to your grave!” screamed Macbeth and then Banquo smiled and faded into the shadows.

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The witches were dancingaround a cauldron when theyfelt Macbeth approaching. He rode out of the moonlighttowards them and called out “I want to know the future”.“Beware Macduff… no man born of a woman can harm you and you will rule until Birnam Wood walks towards you.” was the witches' cryptic reply.“Every man is born from a woman and trees cannot walk, so I am safe” thought Macbeth.

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Macbeth was still worried that the witches had told him to beware of Macduff so he ordered Macduff be arrested. Macduff fled to England to join the old king’s sons who had hid there after Macbeth killed their father.Macbeth was furious and so had Macduff’s castle burnt to the ground and hiswife and children killed.

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From then on, anyone who questioned the King’s commands was executed. Everybody was terrified of him.Lady Macbeth felt more and more guilty about her part in the killing of King Duncan and kept having terrible dreams where she was covered in the King’s blood – “Out damn spot”. She grew weaker and weaker every day.Meanwhile, Macduff and King Duncan’s sons raised an army in England to fight Macbeth and they marched to Scotland.

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Macbeth’s own army advised him to go to battle against Macduff and Duncan’s sons but Macbeth remembered the witches’ words and thought he was indestructible “I have nothing to fear until the day Birnam Wood walks here”.Later that day, Macbeth received the news that Lady Macbeth had died. He did not sleep that night and instead drank wine.The only thing that gave him hope was that his enemies could not defeat him as no woods could walk.

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The next day one of Macbeth’s captains brought the King strange news. “The enemy is approaching. To try to hide themselves they are hiding behind the branches of trees. It looks like Birnam Wood is on the march and walking towards us”. “My curse upon you, witches!” howled Macbeth. “I have lost everything but at least I can die like a soldier. Bring me my armour!”

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Macbeth started fighting like a mad man, slashing his sword at everybody near him shouting “You were born from a woman so you cannot harm me!”Suddenly somebody called his name. It was Macduff. “I have come to avenge the death of my wife and children”“Stand back” ordered Macbeth “I cannot be harmed by a man born of a woman.”“My mother died before I was born” replied Macduff. “To save my life the doctors had to cut me out of her body.”

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Macbeth realised that the witches had deceived him and by trusting their prophecy he had lost everything. He was a broken man and knew that this was the end for him.

“Come on then Macduff, make an end of me.” said Macbeth.Macduff swung his sword and cut off Macbeth’s head which was then put on a spike as the crowds cheered.Three ravens flew around Macbeth’s head. “All hail Macbeth” they cawed.

The End.

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Team planning• You need to work in teams.• Look at the points that everybody has noted

down.• Decide as a team which images you are going

to show in your comic book to tell the story of Macbeth.

• Think about the whole play and decide which areas are most important.

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Team planning• Use the team planning sheets to make your final decision.• Write down what is happening in each picture, who will be

in the scene and the props that you will need to bring with you.

• Read through the Macbeth sheet again ifyou need help in remembering the plot.