Name Date English 12 Vocabulary Lesson 4 Test Date: Exercises 1-2: Exercises 1-4; 6: CONTEXT: Literary Figures in Macbeth: Truth and Legend Macbeth ruled Scotland from A.D. 1040 to 1057, and, from historical accounts, he was a good king. His reputation suffered, however, when his story became a folk legend that changed through many rctellings. By the early 16008, when Shakespeare wrote his play about the ruler, Macbeth appeared in histories of Scotland as "a savage tyrant" who had met with witches and plotted King Duncan's murder. The histories themselves were as much legend as fact-and were all the more compelling for that reason. Shakespeare wove these tales and truths about Macbeth into one of his most powerful plays: Macbeth. In the following exercises, you will have the opportunity to expand your vocabulary by reading about Shakespeare and Macbeth. Below are ten vocabulary words that will be used in these exercises. adroit blazon choleric confer expatriate allay bravado colloquy dirge feign Exercise 1 Directions: Use a dictionary to look up each word in boldface. Then, highlight the context clues in the sentence which help the reader understand meaning. Write the word in the correct blank of Exercise 2, and write down any forms of the word, along with the correct part of speech. 1. Shakespeare was adroit at creating plays from history and legend. He cleverly combined the two in many of his dramas, such as Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Hamlet, and Julius Caesar. 2. The lack of historical accuracy in Shakespeare's plays does not allay, or lessen, people's interest in them. In fact, the plays have remained popular for nearly four hundred years. 3. Every year, Shakespeare's plays are performed all over the world. In towns and cities, audiences are attracted to theaters by posters that blazon information about performances. 4. Shakespeare's plays appeal to people because they dramatize universal human characteristics, such as pride, envy, love, ambition, cowardice, courage, and false bravery, or bravado. 5. Some of Shakespeare's characters are kind and good tempered, but some, like the choleric Macbeth, vent their bad tempers on all those around them. Macbeth's obsessive ambition drives him to react with quick anger. 6. When Macbeth and Banquo, generals in King Duncan's army, are returning from a victorious battle, they meet and speak with three witches. In this colloquy the witches prophesy that Macbeth will be king of Scotland.
7. When Duncan confers, or bestows, an honor on Macbeth by visiting his castle, Macbeth uses the occasion to fulfill the witches' prophecy. Macbeth murders Duncan in order to become king. 8. When Macbeth is performed, taped or live, background music is sometimes used. After Duncan is murdered, for instance, the audience may hear a mournful dirge. 9. Duncan's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, fearing for their lives, expatriate themselves from Scotland. They do not plan to stay in a foreign country forever but only until they can safely return to Scotland and avenge the murder of their father. 10. Macbeth feigns a story about Duncan's death that puts the blame for the murder on others. But Lady Macbeth knows that her husband's story is false, and she goes mad from the guilt she feels. Exercise 2 1. n. a funeral hymn; a poetic or musical expression of grief 2. v. to give, grant, or bestow; to have a conference or talk; to meet for discussion 3. v. to banish from one's native count~ to withdraw from one's native land; n. one who is exiled or who has withdrawn from his or her native land 4. n. a conversation or conference, usually formal discourse; chat 5. v. to lessen; to relieve; to calm
6. v. to pretend; to make up 7. v. to proclaim; to display publicly; n. a coat of arms; a banner 8. adj. easily angered; bad tempered 9. adj. clever; skillful in a mental or physical way; expert 10. n. a show of false bravery or confidence Exercise 3 Directions: Complete the sentences with the correct list word (or form of the word) 1. Macbeth is afraid that his actions after Duncan's death will his guilt for all to see. 2. Because he is obsessed with keeping the throne, Macbeth with underlings. When they meet, he orders them to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance, but Fleance escapes. 3. Apparently Macbeth's friendship with Banquo was not genuine, but. In reality, Macbeth is willing to kill Banquo to secure the throne. 4. Banquo's ghost appears to Macbeth at a party. Macbeth's is obvious; his false bravery when he faces the ghost makes the guests suspicious.
5. In another, the witches warn Macbeth to beware Macduff. After meeting with the witches, Macbeth orders Macduff s wife and children are killed. 6. Macduff leaves Scotland, himself to England. There he joins forces with Malcolm and Donalbain. 7. Unlike her husband, Lady Macbeth is not, or skillful, at intrigue and murder. Her guilt leads to madness. 8. The witches prophesy Macbeth's doom, but he does not understand what the bad-tempered women mean until it is too late. 9. Macbeth's fears increase when he realizes that what he considered impossible is coming true. Nothing can Macbeth's fears; he cannot hope for relief. 10. With all the deaths, including Macbeth's, there are many opportunities to play during a performance of the play. Exercise 4 Directions: For each of the following, choose the word or words which best complete the sentence. Highlight the best choice. 1. Scholars often hold _to discuss Shakespeare's writing. Some of these conferences are quite large. (A) colloquies (B) dirges (C) expatriates (D) blazons (E) bravados 2. Shakespeare borrowed from other works and was_, or skillful, at combining stories from different sources. (A) choleric (B) blazoned (C) adroit (D) conferrable (E) gratuitous 3. Shakespeare took the idea of the murder of Duncan from a historical account of the murder of KinDuff by Donalwald, an ambitious, angry, and _ king's subject. (A) conferrable (B) blazoned (C) choleric (D) expatriated (E) prosaic 4. In the play, Macbeth takes on some of the dark traits associated with the historical Donalwald. Like Donalwald, Macbeth pretends to be braver than he actually is; he uses _ to hide his fears. (A) colloquy (B) blazon (C) conference (D) bravado (E) expatriation 5. Shakespeare may have based the witches, who bestow, or _, prophecies on Macbeth and others, on Scandinavian mythology. (A) blazon (B) expatriate (C) allay (D) feign (E) confer
6. Shakespeare's _, skillful descriptions make it easy to picture armies proudly displaying their _, or coats of arms. (A) choleric...bravado (B) adroit...blazons (C) conferrable...expatriates (D) fortuitous...adroitness (E) sanguine... bravado 7. Shakespeare may have _ with people who had been _ from England for political reasons, learning much from these talks. (A) blazoned...allayed (B) expatriated...feigned ( C) conferred... expatriated (D) feigned...blazoned (E) allayed...feigned 8. Shakespeare's witches _ an interest in helping people, but actually they are skillful, or, at deceiving those to whom they reveal their prophecies. (A) confer...choleric (B) blazon...conferrable (C) allay...choleric (D) expatriate... adroit (E) feign... adroit 9. If King James I attended a play, it was a major event that would have been _ throughout England. The king disliked long plays, so to _ any criticism, Shakespeare kept Macbeth short. (A) feigned...expatriate (B) allayed...blazon ( C) conferred... expatriate (D) blazoned...allay (E) feigned...confer 10. Apparently the king did not object to plays about _ people whose rage leads them to commit murder. Nor, evidently, was he depressed by the somber chords of _played during death scenes. (A) adroit...bravado (B) choleric...dirges (C) conferrable... blazons (D) adroit... expatriates (E) nebulous... colloquies Exercise 5. Create ten sentences, each sentence containing a vocabulary word. Each sentence is worth three points: one for spelling, one for the appropriate part of speech, and one for sufficient context clues. Be careful not to create run-on sentences! Exercise 6: Make a flash card for each word. Write the word on one side, properly spelled, and the part of speech, meaning, and synonym on the other. Use these to study for the quiz on the words. They will be passed in with the completed unit and study cards.