Term 4 Study Guide

SECTION C: Name: Grenee Do, Brittany Cleary, Jennifer Climaco
Cindy Herrera, Alex Borges

Title and Author:
· Macbeth by William Shakespeare
· “Babbit’s After-Dinner Speech” by Sinclair Lewis
· “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams

Major Characters and Characteristics:
In Macbeth:
· Macbeth: Macbeth is the Thane of Cawdor and Glamis. Three witches have prophecies that bad things will happen involving Macbeth and he starts thinking about them more and more. Overall he is a good man. What he wants most is to become (and stay) king so he does whatever it takes. He wants to satisfy his hopes and dreams of reaching that throne. After Macbeth commits murder for the first time, he is more easily tempted to continuing with these crimes. He seems to be more of a tyrant than a ruler. He deals with his problems in the worse ways.
· Lady Macbeth: Lady Macbeth is Macbeth’s wife. She has ambitions to become powerful and would do anything to reach them, even becoming a man if possible. She seems like the dominant one in the relationship because she easily manipulates Macbeth. Her conscious is overpowering and leads to her death.
· Duncan: Duncan is a great man and is also the king of Scotland. He is the man who Macbeth needs to murder in order to become king. After his death, things start going awry because in order for things to fully be restored to their rightful places, his descendant should become king.
· Malcolm: Malcolm is Duncan’s son. It is believed that once he has his seat on the throne, things will be put back into place the right way.
· Banquo: Banquo is a brave and ambitious man. Although, he does not pursue his dreams in such extreme ways as Macbeth does, he still stays loyal to the king and its law. The witches made a prophecy that he is the one who is said to inherit the Scottish throne. Banquo has gone along a completely different path than Macbeth. After Banquo’s death, his ghost haunts Macbeth.
· Fleance: Fleance is Banquo’s son. Macbeth tries to kill him, but he survives. He flees by the end of the play and nobody knows where he has gone.
· The Three Witches: The Three Witches want to plot bad things against Macbeth using their spells. Their predictions cause Macbeth to think differently and act on those crazy thoughts.
· Macduff: Macduff is a Scottish nobleman who, from the beginning, does not like Macbeth. He becomes a leader of a plan to remove Macbeth from his throne.
In “Babbit’s After-Dinner Speech”
· George Folansbee Babbitt: a 46 year old that lives a typical lifestyle. He has a decent job, beautiful house, and a loyal family.
· Myra Babbitt: George Babbit’s loyal, easygoing wife
· Tanis Judique: Client of Babbitt with whom he has an affair

In “The Glass Menagerie”
· Amanda Wingfield: mother of Laura Wingfield. She has a very hectic life and is very paranoid about everything. She is viewed as a heroic lady due to her endurance
· Laura Wingfield: the daughter of Amanda Wingfield. She is the mentally and physically crippled one in the family and has lost all contact with reality
· Tom Wingfield: the son in the family and also the narrator of the play. He is a poet but he has no remorse for others so he escapes it by acting without pity
· Tim O’ Connor: The gentleman caller. He is a nice, ordinary, young man

Brief Summary/Details/Background:
Macbeth: Background
· William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 and died ion his birthday in 1616.
· He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon
· His parents were Mary who was a heiress and John who was a merchant.
· Considered "The Bard" which means lyric poet
· Married to Anne Hathaway who was 26 and he was only 18. They had 8 children with a set of twins and after the twins were born they had no record of Shakespeare for 7 years (1558-1602).
· Published his first play at 25
· Macbeth was published in 1606
· The First Folio was an edition published in 1623 but was not published by him.

Macbeth: Summary
Three witches tell Macbeth that he will become the thane of Cawdor, and then King. He then becomes the thane, and he writes a letter to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her this. After reading the letter Lady Macbeth decides to come up with a plan to kill Duncan, the king. Macbeth, at first, is not so sure, but then agrees. They then invite Duncan to their house, and when he is sleeping Macbeth kills him with a dagger. Macbeth forgets to place the dagger with the guards so Lady Macbeth does it herself to frame the guards with Duncan's death. Macbeth then orders the murderer to kill Duncan sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, but they run away. Macbeth becomes king. Believing that Banquo is a threat, he hires a murderer to kill him. After Banquo is killed, Banquo’s ghost haunts Macbeth and the guilt of the king’s death is still on his mind. He becomes uneasy and feels guilty but is told by his wife to be a man. Lady Macbeth shows no remorse. Macbeth orders Macduff to be killed but Macduff had already left. Lady Macbeth commits suicide because she too, had the guilt written all over her face. She would subconsciously start to sleepwalk and talk in her sleep. Towards the end of the novel, Macduff and his army head towards Macbeth's castle; Macbeth decides to fight. Macduff kills Macbeth and Malcolm then becomes king.
“Babbit’s After-Dinner Speech”
· George Babbit lives an ordinary life that consisted of him with a great job, attractive house, and a loyal family. He lives a typical life of an upper middle-class person. He soon realizes that he is not content with his life and feels as if there is something missing. After a few changes to his original lifestyle does he realize that what he had already was better than what he wanted. It is like the saying that goes “you don’t realize what you have until you lose it”.

“The Glass Menagerie”
· Laura is the very shy daughter of Amanda who has a cast on her leg and is crippled. Tom is the son and head of the house, he is financially helping them out but he escapes and looks for a way out to relieve his mind thru liquor, movies, and literature. Amanda is the mother of the family and feels that Laura is missing out and thinks that marriage would be the best solution. So Tom invites Jim O’ Connor, a friend from work, to join them for dinner. Amanda leaves Laura and Jim together to talk and Laura begins to open up to him and begins to show him her most prized possession, a glass unicorn. Jim decides to kiss her but in the process knocks down the unicorn, which causes the horn to come off) and apologizes to her after kissing her. He tells her that he has a fiancée and didn’t mean to kiss her. A few days later, Tom is fired from his job and he runs away, leaving his mother and sister. He returns though because he couldn’t live with the guilt or leaving behind Laura.
Literary terms:
Motifs
A motif is a “recurring subject, theme, or idea in a literary, artistic, or musical work”.

The motifs in Macbeth are:
Hallucinations:
They haunt Macbeth throughout the play. He keeps seeing the ghost of Duncan
Lady Macbeth continues to wash her hands of the blood, which she sees because she feels guilty about what happened to King Duncan.
The ghost of King Duncan also haunts Macbeth at the dinner table with the Scottish nobility.
Prophecies:
The witches prophesize at the beginning that Macbeth would become Thane of Cawdor, and that Macbeth was going to be king, but someone would come and attempt to murder him to avenge their father; the former King Duncan.
At first, everyone always doubts the prophecies of the witches, but in the end they actually start to come true, and it is too late to do anything about that.
Themes
The themes of Macbeth are:
One’s greed for power will only bring misfortune.
Lady Macbeth and Macbeth were so greedy for power at the beginning, but even when Macbeth eventually became king, he was never happy.
After all of what Lady Macbeth did for power, she eventually ends up committing suicide because of all the guilt she felt.

Feeling that only males have the ability to be courageous and manipulative.
Lady Macbeth felt as though of she could only be a man, she would have it in her to do evil things.
She believes that she feels so much, and she has so much guilt because she is a woman.
Lady Macbeth wishes that she didn’t have womanly parts and had thicker blood running through her so that she would be tougher.
Symbols
The Symbols in Macbeth were:
Blood:
Before Lady Macbeth commits suicide, she keeps seeing the blood all over her hands and keeps trying to wash it off.
The Battles, where many lives are lost, there is a lot of blood shed.
Weather:
Every time the witches appear, it is always raining and there was also a lot of lightning.
When they killed Duncan, the weather also changed and they was more lighting and rain.
Conflicts:
Internal:
Lady Macbeth suffers internally because she wants to do so much, but she feels that she is held back by the fact that she is a female. She thinks that if she was a man, she would be able to be ruthless and more courageous.
Macbeth also suffers internally because he wants to prove to his wife that he is manly enough to accomplish everything that he and his wife set out to do. He also wants to prove that
External:
Macbeth has external conflicts and he kills everyone who stands in his way in order for him to reach the top.
Macbeth is constantly trying to deal with the witches prophecies, by first pretending that they do not mean anything, and then by trying to cope with them.
Literary Devices:
Foreshadowing:
The witches prophecies all of the major moments in Macbeth’s life and the things to come in the novel.
Irony:
One would think that after Macbeth and Lady Macbeth got the power that they craved, they were still unhappy, which was pretty ironic.
It was ironic when Macbeth thought that no man was not born from a woman and how he also thought that the forest could not move, but at the end, Macduff was born by C-section and the army were approaching

Important passages:
From Macbeth:
· "What hands are here! Ha, they pluck out mine eyes. Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red."
v Macbeth makes this statement after he has killed the king. His hands refer to the murder and the blood represents his guilt. He expresses that all great Neptune will not clean blood from his hand because he will always have this constant guilt and no matter what it will not go away and will soon be the cause of his downfall.
· "Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood, stop up th’ access and passage to remorse, that no compunctious visitings of nature shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between th’ effect and it. Come to my woman’s breasts, and take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers, wherever in your sightless substances you wait on nature’s mischief."
v Lady Macbeth say's this and is expressing that she is ambitious and very strong-minded like a man. This is said when her husband is unsure of killing Duncan and it proves that she is man enough to do what ever she needs to do to higher her position in society even if that is killing the king.
Then lady Macbeth is the one that is trying to clean her hands off of all the blood that isn’t even there. She is subconsciously thinking that there is a lot of

So What:
The purpose of reading Macbeth was to understand the consequences of one's actions and understand that having guilt throughout life will eventually lead to more problems. It is important to understand that every action leads to an outcome whether it is bad or good and only the person doing the action is responsible for the outcome. Being an ambitious person is never a bad thing but to use all the ambition to do evil acts which will eventually lead to the never ending guilt that will effect a person for their rest of their life and life isn't about having regrets but having lessons learned.










SECTION D: Arlind Hoxha, Jefferson Lee, Brian Ho, Tuan Nguyen, Thomas Chan, Jackson Chan 6/10/09Sec DReview/Study Guide Term 4 Macbeth- William Shakespeare Background InformationWilliam Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 and he died on his birthday in 1616. He lived in Stratford-Upon-Avon and was born to Mary and John. His nickname is the Bard which is a lyrical poet. Eventually, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway when she was 26 and he was 18. They had eight children including a set of twins. He published his first play when he was 25, but he wrote Macbeth in 1606. The first folio edition was published in 1623. Overall, Shakespeare was extremely popular in his time period.The First Folio was published in 1623 and was the first published collection of Shakespeare’s plays. Unfortunately, there was a time period known as the Lost Years in which there is no record of Shakespeare(1585-1592). People suspect the reason for this is that Shakespeare wanted to take time off due to the birth of his twins. Elizabethan England is a time period from 1558 to 1602 in which Queen Elizabeth ruled. Many people call this time period the "Golden Age" or the "English Renaissance." For fun during this time period, people attended executions, danced, hunted(falconry), and went bull/bear baiting. Queen Elizabeth ruled for about 50 years and never married because she didn’t want to lose her title. She wore extremely heavy dresses and only bathed once a month. Overall, she was popular.In 1603, there was an epidemic that struck known as the Black Plague or the Black Death which killed 33,000 people in a year. Still, Shakespeare survived this. One cause of this plague was the fact that people believed disease came from smells and thus used herbs/spices to get rid of the smells. Also, there was no sanitary system and people did not bathe much. Rats helped to spread disease. The Globe Theater was built in 1599 and is located in Southwark. The theater could hold around 5,0000 people. Above the door is the saying, "Totus Mundus Agit Histonem" which is a quote from Shakespeare’s As You Like It meaning the whole world is a playhouse. The theater is shaped like an octagon and has a thatched roof. There were 3 seating levels and had seats on the stage. The stage had trap doors and used sound effects. In 1615, the theater was burned down because a cannon was shot and burned the place down. Due to Puritan beliefs and the fire, the theater was shut down in 1642. Major Characters1. Macbeth- As the main character in the play, Macbeth is a Scottish general who at the start is the thane of Glamis. Macbeth’s ambition is stirred up when the three evil witches predict that he will be the thane of Cawdor and the king of Scotland. He is tempted by his wife to fulfill his ambition by killing Duncan. Eventually, he kills even more people and evokes a hatred and disorder in Scotland. His ambition eventually leads to his death in the end. Macbeth never accepts his role as a criminal, but still chooses the wrong path which leads to his guilt.2. Lady Macbeth- Lady Macbeth is Macbeth’s wife who wants to increase her status and position in society. Therefore, she tries to extend her ambition to Macbeth by using her sexuality. She urges him to kill Duncan so she could be queen. After covering up for him many times, she eventually is overcome by guilt. Her guilty conscience destroys her and drives her mad. Thus, she commits suicide in the end because she can’t bear the guilt.3. The Witches- These three evil witches are the causes of Macbeth’s problems and disorder. They themselves represent disorder and thus create problems for Macbeth through their prophecies. They force Macbeth to kill Duncan, Banquo, Fleance, Macduff, and Macduff’s family. Besides inciting Macbeth’s ambition, they also make Macbeth believe he is unstoppable. These witches have no other purpose in the story except to create disorder and conflict. 4. Banquo- Macbeth’s friend whose children will take over the throne in the future. His character foils Macbeth because he does not give into the false prophecies of the witches. Whereas Macbeth lets his ambition lead to murder and treason, Banquo lives his life purely. His ghost eventually haunts Macbeth and reminds him of the path he chose.5. Macduff- Macduff is a Scottish nobleman who hates what Macbeth has done to the country. He vows to get rid of Macbeth so he could avenge his family and so he could return the rightful heir to the throne. 6. Malcolm- Duncan’s son and the rightful heir to the Scottish throne. His kingship marks the return of order which Macbeth had destroyed in Scotland. Brief Summary The play starts off when Macbeth has just won a battle and has been marked by his courage and valor. The three witches come to him and give him a prophecy. They relate the past, present, and future when they tell him he was the thane of Glamis, he is the thane of Cawdor, and he will be the King of Scotland. This catches Macbeth by surprise because he is not the thane of Cawdor yet. We also see his ambition because he realizes he has to kill the king. Still, he subdues this ambition and stops his murderous thoughts. He becomes thane of Cawdor as the witches predicted. When Macbeth tells his wife what happened, she believes she can use the situation to fulfil her need to move up in society. Thus, she convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan although she feels Macbeth is too "soft" for the world and for this wicked crime. With much hesitation and convincing, Macbeth kills Duncan. He starts to feel guilty, but Lady Macbeth again convinces him that it is easy to wash away sin. Eventually, Macbeth starts to take control and do things on his own. Without the help of Lady Macbeth, he orders for the death of Banquo and his son because they are a threat to his throne(according to the witches, Banquo’s sons will take the throne). To Macbeth’s despise, Fleance escapes death. Then Macbeth begins to hallucinate and thinks he sees the ghost of Banquo sitting in his chair at dinner. This reminds him of his guilt and therefore he chooses to visit the witches. After three ghosts come to him, Macbeth feels better about the situation. He learns that Macduff went to help Malcolm in England, he orders for his and his entire family’s death. Macduff learns this and is extremely saddened. He joins the Malcolm’s revolt against Macbeth in hope to get revenge. Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth is overcome with guilt and starts to sleep walk. She kills herself right before Macbeth goes out to fight Macduff. After two more prophecies come true, Macduff kills Macbeth and order is restored in Scotland. Literary Devices1. Antithesis- a contrast or opposition between two things; usually shown using parallelism and words that strongly contrast each other.2. Paradox- A form of antithesis; seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement that when investigated may be true; sometimes leads to a conclusion that is senseless or contradictory. EX. "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" - When first looked at, this seems to be contradictory. Still, what could be bad, could also be what is fair(especially in the mystical and eerie world created by the witches).Themes/Motifs 1. One major theme in the play is ambition and the influence it has on people. This theme is portrayed through Macbeth and Lady Macbeth because both of them are characters that seek power and the throne. It is good to have ambition because it is what keeps people striving for new goals. Still, too much ambition leads to disastrous outcomes and can have negative effects. Lady Macbeth is overly-ambitious and thus jeopardizes her life and her husbands reputation/life to fulfill this ambition. In the end, Lady Macbeth dies all due to her ambition for the throne. Also, Macbeth becomes overly-ambitious and goes on a killing spree. This leads to his murder in the end as well. Shakespeare’s point is clear that too much ambition is not a good thing to have.2. Another major theme that stems from the theme of ambition in the play is the ambiguity of human nature. This is shown as Macbeth first learns that he is going to be king. He immediately thinks to himself that he has to kill Duncan in order to gain the throne. This implies that all people have a purpose in their thoughts and actions. This theme is reinforced when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth talk about covering up their purpose and appearing normal. Macbeth wants to look innocent although he has a deceitful purpose in mind. Thus, it explains that it is human nature to be jealous and seek vengeance(two other themes). In order to do so, people have to attack each others faults and weaknesses. Shakespeare is showing the human nature is evil. 3. The third theme is the idea of good and evil. This is seen when looking at the play as a whole. The corrupted and evil characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth ultimately die in the end as a result of their evil actions. Contrary to this, all the good characters who remained true to their morals like Malcolm and Macduff lived on and thrived at the end. This theme is closely related to order and disorder. Macbeth and the witches represent the disorder in the play because they bring disruption in Scotland. When Malcolm gains the throne, the order which Macbeth ruined is restored. Thus, Shakespeare is saying that doing evil never pays off.4. The last major theme is how people are able to manipulate each other. This is shown strictly through Lady Macbeth’s manipulating Macbeth into killing Duncan and fueling his ambition. She does so by using her sexuality as a means of superiority. She also taunts Macbeth and pressures him into continuing with the murder(i.e calling him a coward/unmanly). People are so easy to manipulate when their weaknesses are attacked. When people try to manipulate, it is usually for a set purpose which reinforces the theme of human nature. SymbolsThere are three major symbols in the play. As seen from the first page of the play, the weather has an extreme impact on the mood. Usually, there are thunderstorms and lightening when the witches appear. This manifests the theme of disorder by creating a mystical and eerie mood. Another symbol is the use of clothing. Many times, clothing is used to represent appearance. For example, Macbeth mentions that he can’t wear the clothes of the thane of Cawdor because they aren’t his. Thus, he can’t hold that position because the clothes "don’t fit." The last symbol is the use of blood and water. Every time blood is mention in the play, it represents guilt. This is especially seen when Lady Macbeth rubs her hands furiously to remove the figurative blood on her hands. The water symbolizes cleansing. Still, the cleansing that occurs in the play is only a physical cleaning because there will always be blood on the murderers’ hands. Conflicts 1. Macbeth’s external struggle with Lady Macbeth- Lady Macbeth tries to manipulate Macbeth into killing Duncan and giving into his ambition. Macbeth fights not to give into his wife’s tactics, but eventually he can’t resist anymore. 2. Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s struggle with guilt- Both characters face this internal struggle in the play. Macbeth feels it more towards the starts of the play because he feels the guilt of committing treason and killing his king who is under his trust two times. This is shown when Macbeth sees the blood on the sword before he kill Duncan. Yet, Macbeth seems to grow colder as the play goes on. On the contrary, Lady Macbeth is virtually uninfluenced by guilt at the start. She even convinces Macbeth not to worry about the murder. In the end, she goes mad all because of her guilt. Her guilt leads to her character change and suicide. 3. Macduff’s external conflict with Macbeth- Macduff spends most of the play trying to end Macbeth’s reign as king. He hopes to restore the rightful heir to the throne and bring back the order in the country. Thus, this conflict could be viewed as Scotland against Macbeth because Macduff’s struggle represents what everybody in Scotland wants. In the end, Macduff kills MB. Important Passages for Analysis "And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,The instruments of darkness tell us truths"- Here, Banquo is speaking to Macbeth about the witches. He is saying that Macbeth should not completely believe the witches because they only want to see people ruin themselves. For this reason, they tell false "truths" in order to see their disorder carried into other people. The quote shows how perceptive Banquo is and proves that he is the opposite of Macbeth. "Stars, hide your fires:Let not light see my black and deep desires:The eye wink at the hand; yet let that beWhich the eye fears, when it is done, to see"- In this quote, Macbeth is talking to himself. He doesn’t want anybody or anything to recognize his evil and his sin. He doesn’t even want the stars to see the darkness inside of him. Macbeth doesn’t even want his eyes to see his evil deed because he fears it will be too dreadful. This comes right before he is about to kill Duncan. It represents the theme of disguise and covering up a set purpose(both which are part of human nature). "If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere wellIt were done quickly. If th'assassinationCould trammel up the consequence, and catch,With his surcease, success; that but this blowMight be the be-all and end-all-here,But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,We'd jump the life to come"-This quote comes right before the assassination of Duncan. Macbeth is saying that if he has to go through with the murder, he wishes that it is done quickly. He just wants to get over with it as soon as possible. Also, he wishes the death of Duncan could act like a net and catch everything along its way. This would prevent any consequences and would end the matter right there and then. Still, Macbeth lives in a world full of consequences and therefore he can’t get away with murder. The situation is even worse because he is under a double trust, both as a host and as a subject. This shows that Macbeth is hesitating due to guilt, but it also represents human nature and the desire to do evil. "Is this a dagger I see before me,The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.Art thou not, fatal vision, sensibleTo feeling as to sight, or art thou butA dagger of the mind, a false creation,Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain"- Although he has a real dagger, Macbeth sees this imaginary one in front of him. Besides representing the imminent death of Duncan, it also represent the guilt that he feels for killing his king. It shows that every move is calculated because the handle is moving towards his hand. Thus, Macbeth knows what’s going to happen and thus discontinuous the assassination. "Out, damned spot! Out, I say! One: two:why, then 'tis time to do't. Hell is murky..."Lady Macbeth says this as she begins to hallucinate and sleepwalk. This represents the guilt that Lady Macbeth feels at the end of the play. At first, she didn’t care about her conscience, but now it has come back to haunt her. She can’t remove the figurative blood on her hand and therefore she keeps rubbing it. This guilt eventually drives her to death. "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrowCreeps in this petty pace from day to day,To the last syllable of recorded time;And all our yesterdays have lighted foolsThe way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!Life's but a walking shadow, a poor playerThat struts and frets his hour upon the stageAnd then is heard no more. It is a taleTold by an idiot, full of sound and fury,Signifying nothing"- Macbeth says this towards the end of the play. He mentions the longevity of time and how each day that passes by just means more people passing away until time itself actually ends. He then personifies life and compares it to an actor who is scared to go on stage and is never seen again. In the end, he says it is a tale "told by an idiot" because it has so much noise and anger in it, but does not have much meaning. Macbeth says this because he has been so accustomed to seeing death and seeing life pass away. Thus, it doesn’t seem like anything new to him. This is why he does not seem concerned about anything. So What? Shakespeare wrote this play to warn his readers about ambition and human nature. People that are too ambitious only lead to their own self-destruction. He isn’t saying that ambition is always bad, but he is warning that people need to control their ambitions and save themselves. Also, it is human nature for people to cover up their own cause at the extent of others as Lady Macbeth did. Every person has the desire to do evil, but only the people that subdue this desire like Banquo are truly admirable and courageous. Babbitt’s After-Dinner Speechby Sinclair Lewis Major Characters:George F. Babbitt Brief Summary:Babbitt gives a speech to the Real Estate Board in his hometown of Zenith. In his speech, he emphasizes the growing town of Zenith. He states that although there is room for improvement, Zenith is better than many other cities, like New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia. Babbitt also outlines the perfect citizen which includes: being busy, don’t daydream, no tea parties, smokes a cigar at night, rides the bus home, mows the lawn, reads the children stories, takes the family to the movies, plays games, reads the newspaper, reads some Western novel, sleeps with a clear conscience, and contributes to the city. Babbitt goes on to say that art in other counties are left to bums, while business men make art in America. Also bachelors love children, unlike other decayed European states. The people in Zenith are American businessmen with common sense and a vocabulary to back it up. Babbitt then continues to promote Zenith to the board. Themes:Babbitt uses a theme of perfection. He describes Zenith as a growing place of perfection. After insulting European art and vocabulary, he constantly attempts to make Zenith look better. This is important because it is Babbitt’s goal throughout the story to make Zenith looks better. Conflicts:Babbitt vs. the Board Babbitt attempts to persuade the Real Estate Board by providing all of this convincing evidence in favor of Zenith. He is presenting a persuasive speech to the entire Board.Important Passages:"Our Ideal Citizen—I picture him first and foremost as being busier than a bird-dog, not wasting a lot of good time in day-dreaming or going to sassiety teas or kicking about things that are none of his business, but putting the zip into some store or profession or art. At night he lights up a good cigar, and climbs into the little old ’bus, and maybe cusses the carburetor, and shoots out home. He mows the lawn, or sneaks in some practice putting, and then he’s ready for dinner. After dinner he tells the kiddies a story, or takes the family to the movies, or plays a few fists of bridge, or reads the evening paper, and a chapter or two of some good lively Western novel if he has a taste for literature, and maybe the folks next-door drop in and they sit and visit about their friends and the topics of the day. Then he goes happily to bed, his conscience clear, having contributed his mite to the prosperity of the city and to his own bank-account" (Lewis 512). This quote is being said by Babbitt. He outlines the perfect citizen to the Board. This is important and goes with the theme of perfection where Zenith is being prompted up. "It may be true that New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia will continue to keep ahead of us in size. But aside from these three cities, which are notoriously so overgrown that no decent white man, nobody who loves his wife and kiddies and God’s good out-o’doors and likes to shake the hand of his neighbor in greeting, would want to live in them—and let me tell you right here and now, I wouldn’t trade a high-class Zenith acreage development for the whole length and breadth of Broadway or State Street!—aside from these three, it’s evident to any one with a head for facts that Zenith is the finest example of American life and prosperity to be found anywhere" (Lewis 512). This shows that Zenith is not the largest city, it compares to New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia. It is a better and friendlier place than all three of those big cities. So what: This novel relates greatly to Macbeth in terms of human nature. This story speaks about being an ideal citizen and about being a model. Macbeth, who could remain loyal, decides to betray King Duncan. This story is important today because it helps provide a model for a perfect citizen. This story also is an example of persuasive writing. Babbitt does a great job in persuading the Board. Life on the MississippiAuthor: Mark Twain Major Characters:Huck Finn – He is the son of a persecuting, drunkard father. He is an ignorant, but audacious village boy who runs away from his parents. In addition, he is also a master artificer, because he is sly and gives false information to the boatmen when he is found. The Keel Boatmen – They are jolly and arrogant, because they continuously compete with each other during their free time, but they also enjoy themselves by singing and dancing. Bob and the Child of Calamity – They are both arrogant and fight with each other. While they are fighting, they are throwing insults at each other and boasting themselves. However, they do respect each other, because they stated so and shook hands. Brief Summary:Huck Finn runs away from his persecuting parents along with their slave. Their destination is Cairo, Illinois, a free territory of many runaway slaves. One day, he sees a huge raft and sneaks onto it hoping to gather the needed information by eavesdropping. Instead of obtaining information about Cairo, he is entertained by the keel boatmen who sing, dance and fight with each other. When they discover him, he gives them a false identity and they allow him to leave with no penalty, because he is only a boy. Literary Terms:Symbols: The Mississippi River symbolizes hope, because Huck and Jim, the family’s slave, depend on this river to reach their destination. The haunted barrel symbolizes misfortune, because it had caused the deaths of Davy’s fellow boatmen. Themes:Storytelling helps the boatmen to pass time and many of the stories are humorous. The boasts of the boatmen are exaggerating and humorous. Conflicts: Huck Finn and Jim have run away and their only choice left is to keep moving along on the Mississippi River until they reach the destination. They get lost in a fog and Huck goes to seek information. Two of the boatmen, Bob and the Child of Calamity, have an altercation, but they resolve it by shaking hands and stating they had respect for each other all along. The altercation is supposed to be a humorous event. Literary Devices:Metaphors: The boatmen boastingly use metaphors to exaggerate their achievements and prowess. Hyperboles: Hyperboles are the most prevalent, humorous techniques in this story, because many statements and facts are pushed beyond the actual truth. Incongruity: Two opposite events that seem inappropriately matched, the fight between Bob and the Child of Calamity and the sudden truce afterwards, are unexpectedly joined. Important Passages for Analysis: "It won’t hardly do, Charles William. You couldn’t have growed this much in five years, and you was a baby when you come out of the bar’l, you know, and dead at that. Come, tell a straight story, and nobody’ll hurt you, if you ain’t up to anything wrong. What is your name?" (Pg 412) - Huck Finn has just been discovered by the boatmen and it is obvious that his first attempt at giving a false identity is not working. Davy knows that there is no way Charles William could still be alive and is kind enough to give Huck another chance to tell the truth. "From a trading-scow. She lays up the bend yonder. I was born on her. Pap has traded up and down here all his life: and he told me to swim off her, because when you went by he said he would like to get some of you to speak to a Mr. Jonas Turner, in Cairo, and tell him—." - Again, Huck Finn is giving the boatmen a false identity and background. However, this time he is more decisive with the details and make them seem reasonable. "All right, then. You ain’t but little ways from shore. Overboard with you, and don’t you make a fool of yourself another time this way. Blast it, boy, some raftsmen would rawhide you till you were black and blue!" - Davy allows Huck Finn to leave his raft, under the condition that he never sneaks onto their raft again. He states how lucky Huck is at the moment, because a different crew could have punished him. So What? The sly and cunning character of Huck Finn can be compared to that of Macbeth. This story demonstrates how humor is a great part of human nature. Humor is used as entertainment, but can also be very offensive. The character types of the boatmen are evident in soldiers. There are some soldiers who are assigned to areas in which no battle take place. Like the boatmen, they get bored, so one of the ways to pass time is to joke around and tell stories. This literature contains a great amount of informal dialect in both the narration and dialogue. This kind of dialect is used to let the audience understand the setting and lifestyle within the story. From the themes and the story as a whole, we can learn that storytelling and humor are essential to human society. American Drama Drama – most difficult form of writing George S. Kaufman (writer of comedies 1930-1940’s) Said writing plays was not an art, but trick Difference between drama + other literary forms Movement and gestures are essential elements Highpoints might be nonverbal Writer drawn by theatrical trappings Gestures, colorful sets, magical effects Basic Principles of Drama Play goes wrong = writer’s failure to conceive the story in dramatic term Playwright places the characters in a situation involving conflict Protagonist – main character Ex/internal conflict Exposition – background info English plays of Middle ages called miracle plays Dealt with stories from the Bible Drama, dependent on $$$ Producers- ppl who advance the $$$ take risks. Playwrights must find an Agent Person who handles playwrights work Agent = producers first line of defense Play opens for tryout in a small city first History of American Drama Eugene O’Neil (1888-1953) 1st important figure in drama 1920 – Beyond the Horizon Before O’Neil = shows + entertainment Chariot races, burning cities Melodrama and farces written for famous actors Every town had its own "opera house" Theater takes up > new attitudes, subject matters and form Theater as a Social Art Robert Sherwood 1920-1940 "Drama travels in the caboose of literature." Theater = social art Attend in large groups Respond to something new more slowly as a group than as individuals Giving approval Influences of Ibsen, Strindberg, and Chekhov Norwegian Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) Tacked subjects > guilt, sexuality, and mental illness Swede August Strindberg (1849-1912) Brought his characterizations to an unprecedented level of psychological complexity Russian Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) Shifted the external actions to inner actions and emotion American Realism and Eugene O’Neil Realistic drama – illusion that we are looking through a "fourth wall" Became the dominant mode of American drama 1916+1917 New York Provincetown Players + Washington Square Players Began to produce European plays Provided a congenial home for new American playwrights O’Neil dominated American drama In The Great God Brown (1926) Strange Interlude (1928) Resulted in Nobel Prize in 1936 Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams Arthur Miller (born 1915) Best work = Death of a Salesman Williams (1911-1933) Two principal movements, realism and realism, combined to make something more imaginative The Revolt Against Realism Expressionist drama Aimed at the revelation of characters’ interior consciousness without reference to a logical sequence of surface The Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams Background Info on Tennessee Williams (1911-1983)Opened on Broadway spring of 1945 The Glass Menagerie becomes an American classic Williams known for colorful woman characters Also created great male characters Mixture of straight forward, realistic play construction and highly imaginative conception and language The structure was basically conventional Vision and voice were imaginative and serious Main CharactersLaura Wingfield – crippled daughter of Amanda, very shy, pressures her mom to find a new husband, dropped out of business college Tom Wingfield – is the brother of Laura, works in a shoe factory to support his family, also pushes mom to wed Amanda Wingfield - is the mother of Tom and Laura, once had a night with 17 gentleman callers Jim O’Connor – a friend of Tom’s who gets Amanda makes Laura’s first gentleman caller Brief SummaryAmanda tells Laura a story about the night she had 17 gentleman callers. She wants her to follow in her footsteps but she is crippled. Tom works in a shoe factory and is asked by his mother to find Laura some eligible callers from work. Tom says that he’ll bring his friend Jim O’Connor over after work. Amanda gets Laura dressed up to impress her caller, Jim. After dinner Laura and Jim sit alone to talk. Jim goes in and kisses Laura. Following the kiss, he later tells her that he is already engaged. Laura becomes devastated and Amanda yells at Tom for not telling them earlier. He tells them he honestly did not know and leaves, never to be seen again.Motifs, Symbols and ThemesSymbolsMagic show – this shows how deeply Tom wants to escape from the "real world" Glass menagerie – is Laura’s own private world which breaks Victrola – Laura’s private world Jonquils – memories from Amanda’s past Blue Roses – this is a nickname that Jim makes for Laura MotifsMusic Being deserted/ditched ThemesMemory Not being accepted by society Desire to escape ConflictsTom wants to escape from the shoe factory and his family but he is unable toAmanda wants her daughter, Laura to meet a gentleman caller to wed Laura is unable to fully live her life due to her disability (crippled)Quotes"Laura! Why, Laura, you are sick, darling! Tom, help your sister into the living room, dear! ... I told her that it was just too warm this evening, but - Is Laura all right now?" Amanda tells this to Laura, Jim and Tom at the dinner. This is an example of how society will never accept Laura because of her disability. "On those occasions they call me - Ell Diablo! Oh, I could tell you things to make you sleepless! My enemies plan to dynamite this place. They’re going to blow us all sky-high some night! I’ll be glad, very happy, and so will you! You’ll go up, up on a broomstick, over Blue Mountain with seventeen gentlemen callers!" Tom says this to Amanda in a fit of rage. Tom gets fed up with his mother and opens up his bottled emotions "But the most wonderfullest trick of all was the coffin trick.... There is a trick that would come in handy for me-get me out of this 2 by 4 situation." Tom says this to Laura after coming back drunk from the movies and magic show. This is part of Tom’s persuade Laura to "escape". This follows up to the theme of escape So what?This story tells us about accepting people no matter their disability. Just because Laura is crippled, she is viewed differently and will have trouble getting married unlike her mother. This also tells us that life isn’t always what it seems because Tom has a pretty comfortable life style but he wants to escape from it all just to get away. He feels as if his life is slowly suffocating him and he needs to breathe. We can learn to fully accept people no matter the difference because we are all the same on the inside. Frederick Douglass, the Battle with Mr. CoveyFrederick Douglass – Slave who starts off sick and is abused to farm. After being abused by Mr. Covey, he runs away to find advice. Later he comes back and fights back against Mr. Covey. Sandy Jenkins - Another slave who gives Frederick a root which is said that whoever carries it will never get hit againMr Covey – Slave master who abuses FrederickFrederick is sick and he is forced to work and finally when he is unable to work, Mr. Covey whips him. Frederick leaves to say that he is being abused and ends up at Sandy Jenkins’s place. She gives him a root which is said that whoever carries it will never get hit again. Frederick returns back to Mr. Covey and Mr. Covey attempts to beat him but Frederick develops a fighting spirit and fights back.Literary Terms:The root represents Douglass’ will to fight. When Douglass did not have the root he did not have the motivation and spirit to fight back against Mr. CoveyThe theme is that it is human nature to fight back when something is unfair.Passages for Analysis"It was a glorious resurrection, from the tomb of slavery, to the heaven of freedom. My long-crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bold defiance took its place; and I now resolved that, however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when i could be a slave in fact."-Frederick Douglass shows the feeling he has after fighting back for the first time, the feeling of freedom. Throughout his life, he has been a slave who has been abused and overworked but for once he finally stepped out of his comfort zone and fought back. He finally obtained his freedom.So what?This shows the will of every human to fight back when things get tough. This is important because not enough people speak out for their own beliefs and fight for what they believe in. If everyone takes that extra step, a lot can change.









SECTION G: Melissa Aybar, Estefany Benitez, Tony Huang and Tien Dao

Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Characters
Macbeth: Macbeth is a scottish general and the main character in the play. He is not very well liked by the people around him because they liked being ruled under King Duncan, who Macbeth murdered with the help of his wife's influence. He is very weak-minded, not virtuous, easily tempted, and in the end is not able to deal with the crimes he commits.
Lady Macbeth: Macbeth's wife. She is a very strong character who throughout the play uses her intelligence and appeal to control her husband in order to satisfy her ambition.
The three witches: Three witches who use prophecies to do mischief against Macbeth.
Banquo: A noble man who thinks his kids will inherit the crown of the king and although he thinks with a very ambitious mentality, never acts upon those desires.
King Duncan: The king who Macbeth murders although he is very noble and a great king for Scotland.
Macduff: A nobleman who is unhappy with Macbeth as king. He leads the revolt against Macbeth and gets his revenge for the killing of his wife and son.
Malcolm & Donalbain: King Duncan's sons. Malcolm changes from a weak character to a much stronger character and actually becomes a threat to Macbeth.
Fleance: Banquo's son. Escapes the scene of his father's murder before they could kill him and could fulfill the prophecy that Banquo's son will rule
Lady Macduff: Macduff's wife, shows to be different to Macbeth's wife.

Macbeth summary:
Setting: Scotland, Medieval times
Macbeth comes back after winning the war, and was awarded as the “Thane of Cawdor”. Macbeth and Banquo meet three witches whom gave Macbeth three prophecies and Banquo one. The prophecy predicted Macbeth will be awarded Thane of Cawdor, which came true. Another prophecy predicts Macbeth will become king. To achieve this goal, Macbeth and his wife assassinates Duncan, the king of Scotland at Macbeth’s castle during the king’s visit. Following Duncan’s death, Macbeth became king. Macbeth wanted to keep the king, but the prophecy said Banquo’s son will be king. To avoid this from happening, Macbeth plots to kill Banquo and his sons before they reach the dinner party of Macbeth’s. Banquo was murdered but his son fled away. Macbeth begins to see Banquo’s ghost and does abnormal things. Macbeth visits the three witches again, and he gets another prophecy: If the forest and Birnam doesn’t move physically, he will be safe as king. Also he cannot be killed by someone given birth by a woman. Lady Macbeth gets ill overtime and eventually commits suicide. Macbeth sees the wood in the forest suddenly moving because Macduff ordered his army to carry branches to disguise as trees and moves in slowly. Macduff arrives at Macbeth’s castle and kills him to restore the real successor, Malcolm.
Background information:
Murder under Trust: Scottish law of treason: Murder = Treason = Assassination.

Shakespeare: April 23 1564 -> April 23 1616 (Stratford-upon-Avon)
Wife; Anne Hathaway, 26 while he was 18
Children: 8
Works: first play at age 25
Macbeth written in 1606
First Folio Edition: Macbeth’s first published collection 1623 (dead)
Lost years: 1585-1592 Macbeth had no record, after birth of his twins

Elizabethan England: 1558-1602
Queen Elizabeth’s rule (The Golden Age)
Black Death: 33,000 deaths in one year due to a disease

Globe Theatre: Built in 1599
Located Southwark
Diameter: 100 ft. holds about 3000 people.
Above door: “Totus Mundus agit histrionem”(whole world is a playhouse)
Burned due to fire from a performance
Literary Terms
Motif- a recurring theme or idea, an example of this in Macbeth is the idea that everyone has a fate to fulfill, and no matter what someone does to change it, they have a destiny to fulfill. Among these ideas were also guilt, fate, karma, ambition, honor and murder. Most works of literature have a motif, it emphasizes the idea the author is trying to present to their audience.
Symbol- something that represents something else.For instance, water was not just water, it represented life and purity just as blood represented ambition, murder, and a tainted conscience. In the play the symbols were used by the characters to speak of things without letting others know what they were talking about, also by Shakespeare to create an image of what he wanted us to see.
Theme- a unifying theme or idea of a piece of literature. This can be interpreted differently by different people, I believe that the theme of the play was how a persons' ambition can destroy the people around them.

Conflicts
Macbeth's Ambition vs Macbeth's Conscience- He knows that Duncan is both his friend and his king, that he should be the one protecting him instead of bearing the dagger that to kill him. His conscience dictates that he should not do it because of the "double trust" they share, Duncan is also a noble king that has showered him with gifts, so why kill him, he is a good man? However, Lady Macbeth pressures him to go after use his ambition and once and for all get rid of him for good.
Macbeth vs McDuff- After Macbeth kills Duncan and is names King of Scotland, McDuff, Duncan's most loyal subject rebels and decides to fight against Macbeth along with the King of England and Malcolm the rightful King. McDuff has an even stronger motive after Macbeth slaughters his whole family in a fit of anger when he finds out that he has left Scotland and refuses to return.
Reason vs Guilt- Macbeth has begun to see the ghosts of the people he has killed, his conscience is clearly getting to him and it is becoming harder to hide what he has done, but his reason tells him that everything is alright and that what is done is done and no turning back now.
Literary Devices
parallel structure- using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance.
antithesis- a contrast or opposition between two things; a figure of speech in which opposition or contrast of ideas is expressed by parallelism of words that are the opposites of, or strongly contrasted with each other.
paradox- a statement or proposition that, despite sound reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless and leads to the conclusion that seems senseless or self-contradictory.
symbolism- something that represents something else
metaphors- something that is given the qualities of something else.
similes- comparing one thing to another
imagery- figurative description that create a mental image

Important Passages:
"Nothing in his life Became him like the leaving it" Act 1
This quotation is said by Malcolm and refers to the Thane of Cawdor. This sets the stage for the idea of death and betrayal from a knight. It makes the reader think about treason and shows us Macbeth in the light of a loyal nobleman.
"The thane of Cawdor lives: "why do you dress me in borrow'd robes?" Act 1 Scene 3 lines 112-113
This is of importance because clothing is continually a symbol throughout the play. In this case, the clothing represents the title that belongs to someone else. Macbeth questioned why the gave him the title of "Thane of Cawdor" if it belonged to someone else.
"who can be wise, amaz'd, temp'rate and furious, loyal and neutral, in a moment? No man: the expedition of my violent love outrun the pauser, reason ... " ( page 69 lines 124-134)
Macbeth compares two different emotions and personal traits. Duncan's golden blood is his royalty side. Then he talks about how the murderers look and why they could have done it. Macbeth is mostly saying this but he is referring to himself.
"go get some water and wash this filthy witness from your hands."
Lady Macbeth advises Macbeth to wash the blood off of his hands as though it will erase the fact that the murder was done. It is important because both blood and water are recurring symbols.
Macbeth: So what? Why did we read this? Why is this important to our society, our development as human beings? What can we learn from this literature and its themes?

The story tells us important morals to be aware of in life.

��. Good Vs Evil
Ideally, good always prevail and it should be kept that way. When Macbeth did bad things, such as actually killing the King of Scotland, Duncan, and Banquo, his guilty conscience later consumes him and contributes to Macbeth’s death. Good is and should be always promoted for justice, as portrayed in this novel.

2. Fate
Fate cannot be changed once it is established. However, one can change the outcome. For example, without the influence of the three witches, Macbeth could have done his own decisions and the outcome of the story would be different.

��. Ambition
Macbeth’s ambition was to become king. The witches gave him motivation as they told him his fate to be king. Motivation is the driving force to reach goals as the witches and Lady Macbeth motivates Macbeth to do what it takes, even though it is not the right thing to do such as killing, to get the crown.

Mainly the moral is to let fate does things naturally and one must think of the consequences of doing an action. As our development as human beings, we must be aware of such actions to do things safely and successfully, such as not harming one self’s beliefs. The story also shows how naïve people are when blinded by how much they can gain so much with a big price.



Babbitt's After-Dinner Speech by Sinclair Lewis

Babbit after Dinner Quotes
"Men who had made five thousand, year before last, and ten thousand last year, were urging on nerve-yelping bodies and parched brains so that they might make twenty thousand this year; and the men who had broken down immediately after making their twenty thousand dollars were hustling to catch trains, to hustle through the vacations which the hustling doctors had ordered."
People always want more than they have, and when they get what they want they become just as dissatisfied with it as they previously were . Its always about wanting more and the ambition behind the work.

“Not till that is done will our sons and daughters see that the ideal of American manhood and culture isn’t a lot of crank’s sitting around”
American manhood is working hard and the future of America (the sons and daughters) will not see what this manhood really is if people were to just sit around and do nothing. America's ideals consist of hard workers.

Babbitt’s idea of Good life:
· Busier than a bird-dog
· Not wasting time daydreaming
· Not minding other’s business
· Cigar at night
· Cuss carburetor
· Talk with neighbors
· Read a western novel
· Movie with family

Why we read this story?
Sinclair Lewis’s Babbitt’s after Dinner expresses his opinions about American society and life. Through Babbitts After Dinner Speech we see these more clearly these American ideals that have been set in society over time. We see how people can react when their idea of perfection is challenged, and by reading Babbitts After Dinner Speech it helps us as a class understand the focus question What is America? through the perspective of someone who has their utopia in mind and express disregard for anything that is not "American enough."

The Glass Menagerie by Tenesee Williams
Laura Wingfield- Amanda Wingfield's daughter, very shy girl who has a low self esteem because she thinks she is crippled, and drops out of school on the first day of class.
Amanda Wingfield- Laura's mother, constantly talking about herself and all her suitors when she was young, and always talks to her daughter about marrying as soon as she can, she also wants her daughter to be someone in life and sends her to school.
Tom Wingfield- Amanda's son, barely seen throughout the play but from the looks of it he is very unhappy with the way he is living and decides to spend his time out of the house.
Summary: The setting is an impoverished section of the town, the house the Wingfields live in does not even have doors. The story starts out with Laura, Amanda and Tom having dinner from what you can see Amanda is very concerned with her daughter getting married that she does not let her get up to do anything. Amanda has enrolled Laura in a typing school so that she's better off in life and at least has something to fall back on in case she doesn't get married. Laura, however, dropped out the first day because of her painfully shy personality. Amanda spends time talking a lot about her youth and suitors and how she should've picked a better man to marry, Laura feels that no one will like her because she is crippled, but that she has had a crush before, a guy that called her Blue Roses.
The Glass Menagerie
It is an American Drama by Tennessee Williams (1911 – 1982). It opened on Broadway in the spring of 1945. This play is most notably known for woman characters. It is a straightforward realistic play that has a concept of being poetic, imaginative, and in language as well as a physiological make up of his characters. It is also a memory based play.
SummarySetting: Great Depression of the 1930’s
Tom, the son of Amanda, has been very distant from his family. He was suspected that he goes to the movies everyday to watch the same movie since he is so bored with his life. Ever since his dad left, he works at the warehouse to support the family. Amanda, on the other hand, wants to find a husband for Laura to take care of because of her health condition. Tom brings his co-worker, Jim, home for dinner and coincidentally, Jim was the one Laura loved back in high school. However, Jim was engaged and eventually left and Tom left with him and never returned.
SymbolsBlue Roses: Laura is called blue roses because Jim mistakes the word “pleurosis” for “blue roses”. It’s significance is since it’s not usually a red rose, she is blue rose which signifies that she is usually the outsider in society.
Glass Menagerie:
It is a collection of colorful animals Laura keeps. It signifies the imaginative world she is in without being alone like in reality.
Conflicts
Tom vs Amanda – Tom does not like how Amanda views Laura as a loner in society because of her health condition. Also Amanda quickly judges Tom’s actions and personality, which makes him easily angry and leaves the house often to stay away from her.