Hello, my name is Ms. Grant.

I'm so glad that you've decided to learn with me today.

We're looking at the play "Macbeth" in the unit, Lady Macbeth as a Machiavellian villain.

We're gonna look at really powerful writing today.

What makes really powerful writing about this play Macbeth in relation to an essay question.

I'm gonna be your support and guide as we go through today's lesson.

Let's get started.

So by the end of today's lesson, you are going to have created a well-structured and convincing argument.

We're gonna think what makes a really powerful introduction, what makes a really powerful conclusion, how can we turn planning into writing? And by the end of this lesson, you're gonna be really proud of the powerful argument that you have created in relation to Lady Macbeth.

There are going to be some key words today, which will reference throughout and will help us achieve our objective.

They are: Machiavellian, thesis, embedded quotations, methods, and context.

Their definitions are going to come up one at a time on the next slide.

If you'd like to spend some more time with our keywords and their definitions, pause the video at the end of the next slide.

So our lesson outline for today, we're going to start off by looking at introductions and conclusions, and we're gonna finish today's lesson with you writing your own response.

Let's start off with introductions and conclusions.

You're gonna answer the following question in today's lesson: To what extent does Shakespeare present Lady Macbeth as a Machiavellian villain? I'd like you to discuss this question.

What should an introduction to a response include? So for a literature essay, when you are asked a question, what would a really good introduction look like? Pause the video and discuss your ideas now.

Some lovely discussions there showing off your knowledge of what this aspect of an essay should do.

Here are some ideas that you might have had: that it should refer to the author and the text, that it should reference the question being asked, that it should contextualise the character, the play as a whole, and that there should be a clear and interesting thesis so that whoever is reading your essay knows what it is you are arguing.

Let's read an example introduction to this question: To what extent does Shakespeare present Lady Macbeth as a Machiavellian villain? This student wrote, "Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' is a tale of ruthless Machiavellian ambition, a characteristic embodied by the play's titular protagonist, but perhaps even more convincingly by his wife, a Lady Macbeth.

Her characterization would have subverted all common expectations of women for the plays first Jacobian audiences.

Arguably, her villainous presentation and eventual demise allows Shakespeare to explore the unscrupulous pursuit of power, while simultaneously reinforcing the status quo by punishing someone, notably a woman, who challenges it." So a really strong introduction there.

I'd like you to discuss, what makes this so strong.

It a powerful start to their essay.

Why is it such a strong introduction? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Always really nice to hear people praising student work.

Here's some ideas that you might have had.

"Shakespeare's Macbeth" is how they begin their introduction.

Well, it's an immediate reference to the author and text.

Ruthless Machiavellian ambition, a characteristic embodied by the play's titular protagonist, perhaps even more convincingly by his wife, Lady Macbeth.

And then they look at the idea of unscrupulous pursuit of power.

Well, this references the question being asked because it's about, is Lady Macbeth a Machiavellian villain? The student uses the middle of their paragraph to look at her characterization in relation to the plays first Jacobian audiences.

And this contextualises the character, the play as a whole.

So I've got a bit of an understanding of where Lady Macbeth sits within the whole play.

And finally, "Arguably, her villainous presentation and eventual demise allows Shakespeare to embody, explore, sorry, the unscrupulous pursuit of power, while simultaneously reinforcing the status quo by punishing someone, notably a woman, who challenges it." Here, they have a really interesting thesis.

So I'm looking forward now to reading the rest of their essay and seeing them prove that this thesis, their interpretation of the play, is valid.

I'd like to break this introduction down 'cause it's really in three sections.

The first one is a general sentence about the text in relation to the question.

"Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' is a tale of ruthless Machiavellian ambition, a characteristic embodied by the play's titular protagonist, but perhaps even more convincingly by his wife, Lady Macbeth." Then we've got a contextualization of the character.

"Her characterization would've subverted all common expectations of women for the plays first Jacobian audiences." And finally, we've got their thesis statement, "Arguably, her villainous presentation and eventual demise allows Shakespeare to explore the unscrupulous pursuit of power, while simultaneously reinforcing the status quo by punishing someone, notably a woman, who challenged it." So they've got their really powerful thesis statement at the end.

So their introduction is really in three parts.

Now I'd like you to write your own introduction for the question, and I want you to remember to include a general sentence about Macbeth in relation to the question your own argument.

The example that we read is not the right argument, it's just one interpretation.

A general sentence about Lady Macbeth.

And a thesis statement; What is Shakespeare's purpose? And again, this is your interpretation.

What do you think in relation to the question? To what extent is Lady Macbeth presented as a Machiavellian villain? I'd like you to pause the video and write your own introduction for this question now.

Well done for writing such strong, powerful introductions which have this general sentence about "Macbeth".

Really focus on the character of leading Macbeth across the play and then have your powerful thesis.

Now, whilst an introduction moves from the general to the specific, with a general sentence about the text in relation to the question, a focus of question, and then a specific thesis.

A conclusion does the opposite.

It moves from the specific to the general.

A specific response to your thesis, What did you argue in the essay? A focus on the writer's overall purpose, and then the impact of the text today.

So let's look at an example of a really powerful conclusion.

"In Act 5, Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth's death as a lonely, unmourned and a direct result of her guilt.

Her descent from ambitious Machiavel to anxious sleepwalker is perhaps Shakespeare's reminder to all about respecting the natural order and hierarchy.

It is Lady Macbeth's revolutionary portrayal as a Machiavel, which makes her an unforgettable character; one who we might condemn, but also champion as someone who reacts against the strictures of the patriarchy." So you can see how this student has used from the specific mood, from the specific looking at Lady Macbeth in the play itself, to the general thinking about the impact of her character today.

A check for understanding.

Which section of the conclusion is missing? We've got the specific response to the thesis, the focus of the writer's overall purpose.

What piece of the conclusion is missing? Pause the video and think about your response now.

Well done if you noted that what was missing is the impact of the text today.

Now, I'd like you to write a conclusion for the following question: To what extent does Shakespeare present Lady Macbeth as a Machiavellian villain? You've written a really powerful introduction; now we're going to look to the conclusion.

I'd like you to include a specific comment in relation to the question, a more general comment about Shakespeare's purpose as a whole, and a wider comment on the lasting impact of Shakespeare's work.

Pause the video and write your conclusion now.

Lovely to see people writing their conclusion and really thinking about the lasting impact of Shakespeare's work.

We've got a range of responses there.

Now, just before we celebrate those conclusions, I'd like you to reread your response and just check that it includes a specific comment in relation to the question, a more general comment about Shakespeare's purpose as a whole, and a wider comment on the lasting impact of Shakespeare's work.

If you have all of those things, you know that you have a very powerful conclusion.

So pause the video and make sure you have all those three things in your conclusion now.

Well done for that self-assessment.

It's as important as the writing itself.

We're gonna move on to our second learning cycle, writing our own response.

Now, here is a student single paragraph outline.

It is part of their planning for their response to the question; To what extent is Lady Macbeth presented as a Machiavellian villain? Here's their topic sentence.

"Shakespeare uses Act one to establish Lady Macbeth as a leader with Machiavellian qualities.

They've got their supporting detail, four pieces, they want to look at.

Macbeth referring to Lady Macbeth as his partner of greatness, which seems quite unusual.

They want to look at her immediate plotting and strategizing.

They want to look at her soliloquy in Act one, Scene five, where she ask birds to 'unsex her'.

And they want to look at Act one, Scene six, where Lady Macbeth pretends to welcome King Duncan, and encourages Macbeth to be as duplicitous as she is being.

The concluding sentence is; "Ultimately Shakespeare creates a Machiavellian villain, but increases the shock we might feel to such blatant cunning by embodying these characteristics in a woman." So really successful single paragraph outline; a plan which is going to help them answer the question.

With that single paragraph outline in mind, I want you to look at the first section of their paragraph.

We're gonna think, well, how did they manage to create such a successful first section of their paragraph using that single paragraph outline? Here is the first section of their paragraph: "Shakespeare uses Act one to establish Lady Macbeth as a leader with Machiavellian qualities.

She's introduced in Act one, Scene five, reading a letter that Macbeth has sent her detailing the witch's prophecies.

Macbeth calls her his 'dearest partner of greatness', unusual for 11th century Scotland when the play is set, but also for its first Jacobian audiences who regarded women as men's inferiors, not equals.

Significantly, Lady Macbeth is presented as less hesitant in her immediate desire for the 'golden round', not wondering what the prophecies might mean, like Macbeth, but instead identifying obstacles that will hinder their takeover: Macbeth being 'too full of the milk of human kindness' and Duncan himself.

She neutralises these threats in the most shocking way by asking spirits to remove her remorse so she can commit the regicide and by rejecting her femininity: 'unsex me here and take my milk for gall'.

In this way, Macbeth is presented as the weaker partner and Lady Macbeth as the dominant Machiavel." I really enjoyed reading the first section of that student's paragraph.

Now I'd like you to discuss, we know their single paragraph outline was really strong, how did they develop their notes from that single paragraph outline in two full sentences? Pause the video and discuss this question now.

A fantastic discussion there showing you can really see how excellent planning can support excellent extended writing.

Here's some ideas you might have had: So the first topic sentence was, "Shakespeare uses Act one to establish Lady Macbeth as a leader with Machiavellian qualities." So they've used their topic sentence to begin the paragraph.

They had a really powerful one.

They haven't done anything to it; they've just been able to use that in their extended writing.

The first bit of their main body paragraph; "She's introduced in Act one, Scene five, reading a letter that Macbeth has sent her, detailing the witches prophecies.

Macbeth calls her his 'dearest partner of greatness', unusual for 11th century Scotland when the play is set, but also for its first Jacobean audiences regarded women as men's inferiors not equals." And here they've analysed how Lady Macbeth is introduced and they've used context to develop their analysis in a really clear way saying, "11th century Scotland is when the play is set, but the play was first performed in front of a Jacobian audience." In the final bit of their paragraph they got some really nice analysis of some quotations here, and they start off with 'significantly', which serves as a discourse market in the paragraph to help the reader go through the paragraph and understand how their argument is building and building to support their thesis.

They've used embedded quotations, for example, "Significantly, Lady Macbeth is presented as less hesitant in her immediate desire for the 'golden round'." She's worried about Macbeth being 'too full of the milk of human kindness'.

So some really nice embedded quotations showing off there, really strong knowledge of the text as a whole.

And then their analysis of methods.

They've looked at characterization, the characterization of Lady Macbeth, and they've also looked at contrast contrasting Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to each other to help them understand more how is she presented as a Machiavellian villain.

So a really powerful paragraph where they've used a strong single paragraph, outline their plan in order to create a fantastic main body paragraph.

A check for understanding.

Paragraph should be short and sharp.

Focus on one quotation with close word analysis to evaluate methods.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and select your response now.

Well done if you selected false.

Now I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it A, paragraphs should include multiple pieces of evidence, and where relevant, context or B, paragraphs should focus on one quotation that has lots of methods? Pause the video and select your justification now.

Well done if you've selected A.

Paragraphs should include multiple pieces of evidence, and where relevant, context.

Now I'd like you to complete the planning grid below for the following question: To what extent does Shakespeare present Lady Macbeth as a Machiavellian villain? You have already written your introduction and conclusion, so you've got those.

I'd like you to pause the video and complete the rest of the planning grid now.

Well done for completing that planning grid, making sure that your topic sentences support the thesis that you developed in your introduction in learning cycle one, and making sure that the supporting details that you have from the text, your fantastic knowledge of the text, support those powerful topic sentences.

Now, you've got a really solid plan.

You've got an introduction and a conclusion.

I would now like you to write your response: To what extent does Shakespeare present Lady Macbeth as a Machiavellian villain? Pause the video, write your response, I'm so looking forward to reading them.

Pause the video now.

Well done for applying yourself to that written response.

You've got a range of arguments about to what extent Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a Machiavellian villain, and I've been blown away by the fantastic knowledge of the play you have in order to support your specific thesis.

Before we celebrate your fantastic written responses, I'd like you to do some self-assessment using the following questions to guide you: Do you have an introduction that moves from the general to the specific? Do you have clear topic sentences at the start of each paragraph? Have you embedded quotations? Have you got some interesting analysis of methods? And finally, does your conclusion move from the specific to the general? Pause the video, using these questions to guide you.

Apply yourself to some really careful editing of your written response.

Pause the video now.

Well done for using that time to make your response even stronger.

Editing is such an important part of the writing process and can really help you refine your ideas even further.

In summary, an introduction can start with a general statement about the text.

This can be followed by a more specific statement about the focus of the question.

And finally, your thesis; a conclusion can move from a specific statement about the text to a more general statement about its continued relevance.

Analysis of write of methods and/or context can help develop a paragraph.

It's been such a pleasure to see your written responses to the question: To what extent does Shakespeare present Lady Macbeth as a Machiavellian villain, and to see you apply your evaluative and editing skills to your written piece of work.

I look forward to seeing you next time.