Factors Contributing to Macbeth’s Downfall: An Analysis

What is the Task?

Your assignment is to write an 11-sentence paragraph, using the following prompt:

What are the three greatest contributing factors to Macbeth’s downfall?

Your paper should be submitted on Canvas by 11:59 pm on Friday, December 3.  

You should have both a topic and concluding sentence.  Your essay should include three (one for each factor) concrete details (three direct quotes) and two commentaries for each concrete detail.  You should embed your quotes and explain how they support the topic with the two commentaries for each piece of direct evidence.

Here is an example of an embedded quote:

Macbeth never considered becoming king until the third witch hailed “Macbeth that shall be king hereafter” (Mac.1.3.50).  **Title.Act.Scene.Line**

MLA style for in-text citations and Works Cited page are explained below:

For verse plays, the MLA Handbook says:

"In citing commonly studied verse plays and poems, omit page numbers altogether and cite by division (act, scene, canto, book, part) and line, with periods separating the various numbers"

In an example it gives for a citation of Act 5, scene 1, lines 5-12 of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, the in-text citation appears as: (Ant. 5.1.5-12). The handbook states that the titles of famous plays are often abbreviated.

The handbook also specifies that unless otherwise instructed, you should use arabic numerals even if the original play uses roman numerals.  For example, the original play may say "Act VII" but you would still use "7" in your citation.

For the Works Cited page, the citation will vary depending on if the play is in an anthology, a collection of the author's work, or a stand-alone book.

If it is part of an anthology, follow this format:

Playwright last name, playwright first name. Title of play. Title of anthology. Editor of anthology. City of publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Page numbers. Medium of publication.

Example:

Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. Great Plays of the 20th Century. Ed. Llewellyn Sinclair. Springfield: Random House, 2000. 10-42. Print.

Your paper should be typed in 12-pt Times New Roman, with an original title that is centered, also in 12-pt Times New Roman, NOT bolded or underlined.  Your paragraph should be indented.  Your paper should be written in present tense and in third person (No I).  The Works Cited page should be submitted with the 11-sentence paragraph, but on a separate page.

Each page should have a header.  To make the header, go to Insert, Page Number (a little past halfway down the dropdown list), Top of Page, Plain Number 3.  Type your last name in front of the number, then hit space.  

Your paper should be typed according to MLA style.  The heading should have four lines, name, instructor’s name, course and period, and date. It should be typed on the left hand margin, and it should only appear on the first page.

Macbeth’s Downfall

This is the first line of your paper and should be indented, and then every other line for the rest of

The paper should start at the left margin.  Remember, your entire paper should be double spaced.

Scoring Rubric:

5     Topic sentence

10   Concrete Detail 1/ Internal Citations

5     Commentary 1

5 Commentary 2

10 Concrete Detail 2/ Internal Citations

5 Commentary 1

5 Commentary 2

10 Concrete Detail 3/ Internal Citations

5 Commentary 1

5 Commentary 2

5 Closing Sentence

10 Works Cited Page/Format

20 MLA format/Grammar/Mechanics