E11IB: Macbeth Essay Feedback (2016)

The Prompt Discuss the presentation and dramatic significance of husbands and wives, whether present in the action or not, in The Tragedy of Macbeth. This is an actual IB prompt used for Paper 2 The prompt is very flexible – students need to discuss “presentation” and “significance” “presentation” – How does the author employ husbands and wives in the text? “significance” – How is the presentation of husbands and wives meaningful? There are only two married couples in the play: the Macbeths and Macduffs Students could either choose to address only the Macbeths or both the Macbeths and Macduffs in the essay

Feedback Be sure to address theme at some point in the essay (not necessarily in the thesis, but “significance” definitely alludes to “meaning” which is the same as theme) The theme should fit the prompt (“husbands and wives”) Some students chose to slip “husbands and wives” into what was likely a preexisting thesis. For example, “Shakespeare employs husbands and wives to develop the theme that reckless ambition leads to destruction.” Note that in this example, almost any topic could be inserted in the place of ”husbands and wives.” For example, “Shakespeare employs round and dynamic characterization to develop the theme that reckless ambition leads to destruction.” Macbeth should be underlined and is a play, not a novel

Feedback (2) Some of you are slipping into first person The focus of the paper should be on “marriage;” “marriage” should not feel like a topic that has been tacked on at the end of each body paragraph or solely referenced in the conclusion Avoid plot summary; only reference the particular aspects of the play that support your argument “Scotland” only has one “t” Many papers lacked depth – some of you were entirely fixated on plot. For example, “Shakespeare uses husbands and wives to advance the story.” Most often misspelled word – “receive”

Scoring Class Average: 36.5 (73%)