hello

This study sheet will help you to write a rough draft for the writing assignment in 1.1.13 that you will revise later on; thus, it is critical that you complete this sheet and save it for later use. Answer the following questions as you work through your study to build a strong and successful essay.

Write an argumentative essay explaining who is to blame for Duncan’s death in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. 

1. Start by gathering evidence. Find two to three quotes from the play that indicate Macbeth is not to blame for the murder, or is less at fault than Lady Macbeth.

2. Find two to three quotes from the play that indicate Macbeth can definitely be blamed for Duncan’s murder.

3. Find two to three quotes from the play that indicate Lady Macbeth is the one who should be blamed (either wholly or partly) for killing Duncan.

4. Write a claim that indicates who you think holds the blame for Duncan’s murder.

5. Based on the exercises in this study, do you want to qualify that claim in any way? Does who is to blame change or shift over the course of the first act? If you think Macbeth is partly — or even completely — to blame for Duncan’s murder, did he have a choice? Did this tragedy result from Macbeth’s inner flaws or from external influences?

6. Now you have evidence that has led to a claim. To help you find more evidence, look at the quotes in the table below and identify who said what — Macbeth or Lady Macbeth. If you find quotes that support your claim, make sure to put them into your outline.

Who Said That?	Quotes from Macbeth
	“What cannot you and I perform upon / The unguarded Duncan? what not put upon / His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt / Of our great quell?”
	“If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, / Without my stir.”
	“The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step / On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap, For in my way it lies.”
	“Only look up clear; / To alter favour ever is to fear: Leave all the rest to me.”
	“Stars, hide your fires; / Let not light see my black and deep desires . . . “
	” . . . bear welcome in your eye, / Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under’t.”
	“We will proceed no further in this business. / He hath honour’d me of late . . . “
	“I am settled, and bend up / Each corporal agent to this terrible feat.”
	“The raven himself is hoarse / That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan / Under my battlements.”
	“Come, thick night, / And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, / That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, / Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, / To cry ‘Hold, hold!'”

6a. Take the information above and begin to create an outline that will guide you as you begin to write the essay.

7. Imagine you are arguing your claim in a debate and someone is facing you, arguing against your claim. Come up with two to three arguments or pieces of evidence that he or she could use to contradict your claim.

8. Come up with a brief argument that you would use as a response against each of these two to three arguments or pieces of evidence.

9. Choose one or two of these to include in your essay as counterclaims. Add to your outline by indicating when you’ll include this counterclaim and how you will refute it in your essay.

10. How will you lead your readers into your essay? Draft an initial version of your introduction paragraph here.

11. Write two body paragraphs using the evidence from your outline that best supports your claim of who is guilty: Macbeth or Lady Macbeth. Remember to remind your reader of how the evidence supports the claim and to create smooth transitions from one paragraph to the next.

12. Write one more body paragraph refuting a counterclaim. Try to think of what someone who disagrees with you might say and find evidence to prove that he or she is wrong.

13. How will you end your essay? Since it’s important to finish on a strong note, especially after you’ve introduced a counterclaim, draft a conclusion paragraph that will focus your readers on your own claim.