AP Exam Practice

I used the practice exam with the answer's included so that I could check my answers. It was hard not to cheat though, but if I honestly put what I thought it was it was a little surprising how many I could actually get right, but at the same time the sort of concepts I was missing. Some of the literary terms that are more vague or not as commonly seen were hard to remember off the top of my head. It was good to get a look at the sort of things that I did know, and what I need to spend a little more time with.

Macbeth Essay Prompts

1. 1983, pick a character who is a villain and explain how they affect the play. Evil and temptation are big parts of the play, so this is an important subject. 2.1994, choose a character who appears briefly but who is important to the play as a whole. Macbeth has the witches, who arn't in it for very long, but are very important. 3. 1975, write about a stereotypical character from a work of merit. Macbeth is a very typical character, corrupted by power, leads to his own demise; but it is very important to the work.

My Plan

My plan to prepare for the AP test is to learn the vocabulary well, review how to analyze poetry, and how to write more concisely and efficiently. I need to work on keeping the focus of my writing on a single subject, and not let it flip around with my thought process.

Macbeth Lecture- The Sequel

• Lady Macbeth- Lack of inner-will • Macbeth- kills to ease his mind, does whatever he can to ease his mind • Would’ve been in the clear, but continued to murder after Duncan. Self-destructive • What matters to Macbeth post murder isn’t good or bad, but on easing his mind. • Begins as man, ENDS AS KILLING MACHINE!!! :O • Refuses to evade what he has become • Cares about no one, not even his wife • Witches have malicious intentions, prophetic power • Manifestations of evil, tempt people • Similar to “Monkey’s Paw”/Garden of Eden • Constant reminder of evil, temptation in the world • Witches could be looked at as proletariat (common people) (juxtaposition?)

Macbeth Lecture

• 5 act character driven play
• Act 3 scene 1 he becomes king
• Scene one meets witches, 2 kills Duncan, 3 becomes king, last 2 scenes are his descent from greatness
• No humor or humanity in play, except for maybe the scene with the porter which can be looked at as black humor
• Play focuses on what Macbeth is thinking or doing, what evil brings to himself
• Macbeth- tragic hero- critical flaw- contributes to his demise
• Starts play in good position, good man/warrior
• Loses everything over its course
• Does it to himself, architect of his own demise
Murder of Duncan
• Ambition (simple)
• Wants to be king
• When Macbeth sees the witches he doesn’t question them
• Witches are a response to his desires
• Desires to be king, but at first doesn’t want to do the wrong thing, sense of right and wrong, political savvy
• Knows he has to violate what he believes
• Tries to frame chamberlains for Duncan’s killing
• Banquo doesn’t believe the witches prophecies as Macbeth does
Lady Macbeth-
• evil impulse, tool of destruction to Macbeth
• Has no conscience like Macbeth
• Doesn’t seem like a mother at all
• Pesters and taunts Macbeth to be more evil
• Macbeth decides to kill Duncan himself- hallucinates sees dagger- horrified about what hes about to do
• Dagger sort of pulls him toward the wrong thing to do
• Consumed with regret after killing Duncan
Macbeth as king
• When play gets tragic
• Begins to kill more and more people, slippery slope
• Quality of mind is poor, singularity of focus on maintain power and easing his mind
• Won’t compromise, map any price, make any decision
• Irony- The evil Macbeths commits makes him terrified of himself- Lady Macbeth falls apart

Today's Macbeth Quiz

1. A
2. B
3. C
4. A
5. A
6. B
7. B
8. C
9. C
10. A
11. Macbeth begins the play as a courageous and brave, but later after hearing the witches his ambition gets the better of him and he begins to act in ways he knows are wrong.
12. Macbeth is motivated by the power of being king, he is ambitious and has Lady Macbeth pressuring him as well.
13. The witches seem to have great power over Macbeth, they change him to let his ambition control his actions, and make him fear the death the prophesized for him, yet feel all powerful because of it.
14. Macbeth takes them to be fact right away, Banquo is more cautious about the witches and their predictions.
15. They begin as a normal, equal couple, but after Lady Macbeth learns about the witches, she begins to manipulate him and his new ambitious nature.
Part II
1. B
2. B
3. C
4. A
5. A
6. A
7. A
8. C
9. B
10. B
11. That things are not always as what they appear to be.
12. Macbeth gives into evil, knowingly doing what he knows what is wrong, and it turns to be the death of him. This shows that people who are ambitious and not right with their motives will not succeed.
13. The witches allow us to see some of the play that the characters don’t, also the point of view, where we can see all the characters and what they’re planning. As with Duncan, who prior to his murder is happy and joking, because unlike the audience, he has no idea Macbeth is plotting to murder him.
14. She pressures him into doing things that he knows are wrong by continually pestering him, and frequently assaulting his manhood, and saying that she wished her husband would do these deeds for her.
15. Macduff is devastated when he learns of his families’ death, while Macbeth is unphased and seems stoic. This shows the contrast in the two characters morals and mindsets.

1984 by George Orwell

• Oceana
• “The Party” is in control, Central figure is Big Brother
• Everywhere around the society there is Big Brother’s face and a reminder that he’s watching
• The Party controls everything and everyone, free thinking is a crime, speaking without using “newspeak” is a crime because they’re afraid of rebellion
• Thoughtcrimes – Thought Police
• Winston Smith
• Winston buys a diary and writes his illegal thoughts in it so he has somewhere to put them, doesn’t like the control of the party, but thinking so is a crime
• Wants to contact O’Brien who is high up in the party but who he believes is secretly against it
• “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”
• Winston works at the Ministry of Truth notices attractive women (which is a bad thing to do)
• The women later gives him a note that expresses her feelings to him, she’s named Julia
• They have a relationship, which is against party rules
• O’Brien sends for Winston t meet him, he tells him and Julia that he is in fact against the party.
• Police barge in and arrest them all, they’re taken to the ministry of Love (that he always had wondered about)
• Here he learns O’Brien is not what he said, but did that to incriminate him
• Winston is tortured and brainwashed until he loves Big Brother and feels nothing for Julia.
• “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
1. Setting, symbols, tone are important elements
2. When and why it was written-shortly after WWII when totalitarianism is a real fear in people’s minds, Orwell writes what will happen without change in the world

Macbeth Notes

-Though he started off as a good leader, Macbeth about 7 years in turns into a villainous and twisted leader.
-King James I (king of England and also Scotland) into witchcraft, so the wierd sisters are in the book, who provide his witching outlet
-Shakespeare's principle source was Holinshed's Chronicles of Scottish History--was a loose collection of gossip, tales and fantasies, so what he was using as fact was flawed
-Only used what caused good drama
-Macbeth killed Duncan to become leader, ruled for 17 years
-Of 8 of the Scottish kings furing this time 7 died of unnatural causes
-Duncan's son overthrows and kills Macbeth becomes King Malcolm III
-English and Scottish don't like each other
-Robert the Bruce leads Scotland to Victory against King Edward
-Lady Macbeth gets fascinated with murder, wants her husband to be one

The Top 3 Peer Blogs

kerhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com
erlrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com
http://chadenglitcomp.blogspot.com/

Of the blogs I looked at these three were my top choices, especially Katie's blog.

The Things They Carried Powerpoint