Year 5 - English
Planning and writing the 'for' section of Macbeth's soliloquy
Shakespeare's 'Macbeth': narrative and soliloquy writing
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils have their first taste of Shakespearean play scripts. They analyse the witches' prologue of this iconic play as a starting point for writing a narrative opening. Pupils investigate the central character, writing a soliloquy based on Macbeth's famous dagger monologue.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to plan and write the 'for' section of Macbeth's soliloquy.
Key Notes
- A soliloquy occurs when a character voices their thoughts and feelings aloud.
- This soliloquy outlines Macbeth's dilemma.
- Soliloquies can feature a range of sentence types, rhetorical questions and modal verbs.
- A soliloquy is written from the first person perspective.
Vocabulary To Learn
- soliloquy: an act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play
- rhetorical question: a question asked to the reader that does not expect an answer
- modal verb: a type of auxiliary verb that helps us to talk about how likely, possible, necessary or obligatory something is
- adverbial complex sentence: a sentence formed of a main clause and an adverbial subordinate clause
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Pupils might include the part where Macbeth sees the dagger, which is what they will write in the closing in the subsequent lesson.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
A soliloquy occurs when a character voices their thoughts and feelings aloud. This soliloquy outlines Macbeth's dilemma.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'soliloquy'
an act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: Pupils might include the part where Macbeth sees the dagger, which is what they will write in the closing in the subsequent lesson. Correction: Make sure pupils understand that they are writing about the visualisation of the dagger in the next section of the soliloquy.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Analysing a scene in the build-up of 'Macbeth' Study Guide
- Analysing the main character in 'Macbeth' Study Guide
- Exploring characters and setting in the opening scene of 'Macbeth' Study Guide
- Generating vocabulary for the opening of 'Macbeth' Study Guide
- Identifying the features of a soliloquy Study Guide
- Peer editing a soliloquy based on 'Macbeth' Study Guide
- Peer editing the opening of a narrative based on 'Macbeth' Study Guide
- Performing a soliloquy in character as Macbeth Study Guide
- Planning and writing the 'against' section of Macbeth's soliloquy Study Guide
- Planning and writing the closing thoughts of Macbeth's soliloquy Study Guide
- Planning part one of the opening of 'Macbeth' Study Guide
- Planning part two of the opening of 'Macbeth' Study Guide
- Understanding the context of Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' Study Guide
- Understanding themes, characters and plot in Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' Study Guide
- Writing part one of the opening of 'Macbeth' Study Guide
- Writing part two of the opening of 'Macbeth' Study Guide
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