Extra credit, quarter 2

Here are some extra credit opportunities for you in the second quarter.

• Watch any of the following movies: Camelot (1967), First Knight (1995), Scotland PA (2001; with parental guidance). Write about how these movies teach you more about King Arthur, a little more about Britain, and a lot more about literature. (25 pts)
  
• Read "The Reeve's Tale" or "The Knight's Tale" from The Canterbury Tales. Sketch a scene from any of these in color to decorate our classroom wall. (25 pts)
  
• Memorize and recite Macbeth's "She should have died hereafter" speech from Act V of Macbeth (20 pts).
  

All points apply to homework grades.

Bear in mind that first quarter extra credit can be turned in for second quarter extra credit too!

Got those Monday-test-day blues?

Here's what I've been brainstorming about for Macbeth essay topics:

• “Equivocation” is the purposeful deceit of someone by using false statements that sound true. There must be at least three characters in this play who "equivocate" with the other characters in at least one way or another.
  

• Macbeth might be read as how a bad king gets what’s coming to him, but it might also be read as Shakespeare’s advice on good leadership. After all, he wrote it just as James I was taking the throne. If you think about a few characters in particular, you can really understand how this play is basically a prescription for how to be a good king, by showing us a few characters who define, in one way or another, what makes a good leader.