Name__________________________
Date_______
Test Date: ___________
Exercises 1-2: ______
Exercises 1-4; 6: _____
English 12
Vocabulary Lesson 4
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
allay
blazon
bravado
choleric
colloquy
confer
dirge
expatriate
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
Forms:
Synonym:
2. ____ ____________________v. to give, grant, or bestow; to have a conference or talk; to
meet for discussion
Forms:
Synonym:
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
Forms:
Synonym:
4. ____ ______________________n. a conversation or conference, usually formal Forms:
Forms:
Synonym: discourse; chat
5. ____________________________v. to lessen; to relieve; to calm
Forms:
Synonym:
6. ___________________________v. to pretend; to make up
Forms:
Synonym:
7. _______________________v. to proclaim; to display publicly; n. a coat of arms; a
banner
Forms:
Synonym:
8. _______________________adj. easily angered; bad tempered
Forms:
Synonym:
9. __________________________adj. clever; skillful in a mental or physical way; expert
Forms:
Synonym:
10. _____________________n. a show of false bravery or confidence
Forms:
Synonym:
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.