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THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH,
ACT IIIanalyze Craft and Structure
Author’s Choices: Structure The plot structures of Shakespeare’s
tragedies often include elements that add to the customary dramatic arc of
rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.• Crisis or Turning Point: event that causes the tragic hero’s situation to
change decisively, leading to that character’s downfall. The crisis may
occur at the same time as the play’s climax—its moment of highest
emotion and tension. However, in Shakespeare’s tragedies, the crisis
often occurs in Act III, at a point that is earlier than and separate from
the climax.
• Catastrophe: resolution of the tragedy, in which the tragic character’s
downfall is completeWithin the larger structure of Shakespearean tragedies, cause-and-effect
relationships feature strongly. Often, one event sets in motion a series of
related events over which characters seem to have little control. It can be
useful to think of these relationships as a chain of causes and effects, in
which a cause triggers an effect, which becomes the cause of a new effect,
and so on.PracticeIdentify events that are part of the play’s rising action—the situations that
intensify the conflict. Then, indicate where the crisis occurs in Act III. Finally,
note what you predict will happen in the falling action and catastrophe of
Acts IV and V.Act I:Act II:Act III:How events are linked by cause and effect:CRIsIs/TuRnInG POInT In ACT III:RIsInG ACTIOn EvEnTs:PREDICTIOns: FAllInG ACTIOn EvEnTs/CATAsTROPHECITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
to support your answers. sTAnDARDs
Reading Literature
• Analyze the impact of the author’s
regarding how to develop and relate
elements of a story or drama.
• Analyze how an author’s choices
concerning how to structure specific
parts of a text contribute to its
overall structure and meaning as well
as its aesthetic impact.312 UNIT 3 • FACING THE FUTURE, CONFRONTING THE PASTLIT17_SE12_U03_A3_WC_app.indd 312 21/03/16 8:41 PMTEACHING
Analyze Craft and Structure
Author’s Choices: Structure Explain that a
Shakespearean tragedy follows a typical plot
structure of rising action, climax, falling action,
and resolution. In addition, there are often many
cause-and-effect relationships. This pattern lets
the author set up situations from which later
situations will develop. This structure is commonly
known as cause-to-effect arrangement of
incidents. After all, what happens in a last act
cannot happen unless events in previous acts
set it into motion, causing the final result. For
more support, see Analyze Craft and Structure:
Structure.
Possible responses:
a. The witches predict Macbeth will be king and
Banquo will father kings. Duncan names Macbeth
the new Thane of Cawdor. Lady Macbeth forms a
plan to kill Duncan.
b. Macbeth murders Duncan. Lady Macbeth plants
the bloody knife on the guards. Macbeth admits
he killed the guards to avenge Duncan. Macbeth
hires men to kill Banquo and Fleance.
c. Macbeth murders Banquo. Fleance escapes.
Macbeth reveals his “infirmity” to his dinner
guests. Lady Macbeth tries to cover for Macbeth’s
actions. Hecate reprimands the three witches.
d. The witches’ prophecies come true and also cause
chain of events. Macbeth becomes king, but the
cost is to his mental health, and he must continue
having people killed. Lady Macbeth has to lead,
support, and protect her husband as events
unravel. The sons of the people Macbeth has
murdered have escaped.
e. Fleance escapes. Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost
and begins to lose his mind.
f. Macbeth will continue to lose his mental
capacities as he does what he thinks is needed to
stay on the throne. Macbeth’s tragic end unfolds
as the witches’ prophecies come true.FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Analyze Craft and Structure
• If students fail to identify an example of cause
and effect, then review contemporary cause-
effect links.
• If students are unable to analyze parts of the
plot, then discuss the sequence of events in
another familiar drama.
For Reteach and Practice, see Analyze Craft
and Structure: Structure (RP).a. See possible response in Teacher’s Edition.b.e.f.c.d.PERSONALIZE FOR LEARNING
English Language Support
Using Cause and Effect Ask students to write
two causes and two effects. The two sets of
sentences can be related, but they do not have to
be. EMErging
Have students write a brief description of a
fictional character of their own or that they
have read about. Tell them to include two causesand two effects in their description. ExpandingHave students write a brief story that features a
cause and effect text structure. Bridging
An expanded English Language Support
Lesson on Cause and Effect is available in the
Interactive Teacher’s Edition.312 UNIT 3 • FACING THE FUTURE, CONFRONTING THE PAST
LIT17_TE12_U03_A3_WC_app.indd 312 12/04/16 12:03 AM