A Level English Literature – Summer Work
At the induction session in July 2015, it was explained to you that you will be required to purchase
your texts for both the examination and the coursework elements of the course. You will be able to
keep these texts and annotate them. If you intend to source your own copies of the texts, you
should let Mrs Murray know ASAP.
Below is a summary of the work that you were asked to complete in preparation for the first lesson
back. The scene from Macbeth and the extract from Oh What a Lovely War can be found overleaf.
Task 1:
Read Act 1 Scene 5 of Macbeth. Annotate this in detail and then write a response to the following
question (approximately 1000 words).
How does Shakespeare present the character of Lady Macbeth and establish the potential for
future conflict in Act 1 Scene 5 of Macbeth?
Remember to include in your analysis relevant analysis of Shakespeare’s dramatic methods.
You should look at how the scene is structured, the language that is used by the characters and the
effect of these choices on the audience.
You may also wish to consider the following areas of social / historical / political context within your
response:
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James I was on the throne when Macbeth was first performed in approximately 1606. He
had just survived the Gunpowder plot in 1605.
The position and status afforded to women in the early 1600s.
The religious nature of society at this time and their feelings about the supernatural in
general.
Task 2:
Read the extract from Oh What a Lovely War. Annotate this in detail and then write a response to
the following question (approximately 1000 words).
What points of social and political protest are being made here?
In your answer, you might like to consider:
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the differing viewpoints of Haig and the general and how these are conveyed in the language
that they use;
the attitude of the junior officer, as displayed by his words;
the likely impact on an audience of the song;
the likely impact on an audience of the images displayed;
the likely impact on an audience of the newspanel;
tny other points of dramatic detail.
Task 1: Macbeth
This scene is from early on in the play, after Macbeth has had his first meeting with the witches, who
have given him the prophecy that he would be given the title of Thane of Cawdor and that he would
be crowned as king. He has subsequently been given the title of Thane of Cawdor, following the
execution of the previous Thane for treason. This is the first time that Lady Macbeth’s character has
been seen on stage by the audience.
Act 1 Scene 5
Inverness. Macbeth's castle
Enter LADY MACBETH, reading a letter
LADY MACBETH
'They met me in the day of success: and I have
learned by the perfectest report, they have more in
them than mortal knowledge. When I burned in desire
to question them further, they made themselves air,
into which they vanished. Whiles I stood rapt in
the wonder of it, came missives from the king, who
all-hailed me 'Thane of Cawdor;' by which title,
before, these weird sisters saluted me, and referred
me to the coming on of time, with 'Hail, king that
shalt be!' This have I thought good to deliver
thee, my dearest partner of greatness, that thou
mightst not lose the dues of rejoicing, by being
ignorant of what greatness is promised thee. Lay it
to thy heart, and farewell.'
Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be
What thou art promised: yet do I fear thy nature;
It is too full o' the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great;
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it: what thou wouldst highly,
That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false,
And yet wouldst wrongly win: thou'ldst have, great Glamis,
That which cries 'Thus thou must do, if thou have it;
And that which rather thou dost fear to do
Than wishest should be undone.' Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear;
And chastise with the valour of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round,
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem
To have thee crown'd withal.
Enter a Messenger
What is your tidings?
MESSENGER
The king comes here to-night.
LADY MACBETH
Thou'rt mad to say it:
Is not thy master with him? who, were't so,
Would have inform'd for preparation.
MESSENGER
So please you, it is true: our thane is coming:
One of my fellows had the speed of him,
Who, almost dead for breath, had scarcely more
Than would make up his message.
LADY MACBETH
Give him tending;
He brings great news.
Exit Messenger
The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements. Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood;
Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
The effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts,
And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,
Wherever in your sightless substances
You wait on nature's mischief! 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!'
Enter MACBETH
Great Glamis! worthy Cawdor!
Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter!
Thy letters have transported me beyond
This ignorant present, and I feel now
The future in the instant.
MACBETH
My dearest love,
Duncan comes here to-night.
LADY MACBETH
And when goes hence?
MACBETH
To-morrow, as he purposes.
LADY MACBETH
O, never
Shall sun that morrow see!
Your face, my thane, is as a book where men
May read strange matters. To beguile the time,
Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under't. He that's coming
Must be provided for: and you shall put
This night's great business into my dispatch;
Which shall to all our nights and days to come
Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom.
MACBETH
We will speak further.
LADY MACBETH
Only look up clear;
To alter favour ever is to fear:
Leave all the rest to me.
Exeunt
Task 2: Oh What a Lovely War
Below is an extract from the 1963 play, Oh What a Lovely War, considering various aspects of the
conduct and experiences of World War I. This was a collaborative piece of drama, as opposed to
something written by a single playwright, with an air of improvisation about it. It includes a good
deal of song and projections on to a screen of pictures and, as in this extract, newsreel headlines.
Haig was 1st Earl, Douglas Haig, Field Marshall and senior British officer during World War I. Here he
talks to a British General and, briefly, a Junior Officer, with a song sung from offstage and a brief
interruption of the action while a Newspanel is projected.
HAIG
(entering)
Germany has shot her bolt. The prospects for 1916 are excellent.
BRITISH GENERAL
(entering)
Permission to speak, sir.
HAIG
Of course.
Slide 40. A map of Ypres and the surrounding district, showing Kitchener’s Wood, Hill 60,
Passchendale, etc.
BRITISH GENERAL
If we continue in this way, the line of trenches will stretch from Switzerland to the sea. Neither we
nor the Germans will be able to break through. The war will end in complete stalemate.
HAIG
Nonsense. We need only one more big offensive to break through and win. My troops are of fine
quality, and specially trained for this type of war.
BRITISH GENERAL
This is not war, sir, it is slaughter.
HAIG
God is with us. It is for King and Empire.
BRITISH GENERAL
We are sacrificing lives at the rate of five to sometimes fifty thousand a day.
HAIG
One battle, our superior morale, bombardment.
JUNIOR OFFICER
(entering)
Sir, tell us what to do and we’ll do it.
HAIG
We’re going to walk through the enemy lines.
BRITISH GENERAL and JUNIOR OFFICER go off.
Slide 40 fades into Slide 41. Tommies advancing across no man’s land, in full battle pack, silhouetted
against clouds.
A man’s voice, offstage, sings slowly as HAIG speaks.
SONG – There’s a long, long trail
There’s a long, long trail a-winding
Into the land of my dreams,
Where the nightingale is signing
And the white moon beams…
He carries on humming the tune, ending@
… till the day when I’ll be going down that long, long trail with you.
HAIG
(during the song)
Complete victory… the destruction of German militarism… victory march on Berlin… slow deliberate
fire is being maintained on the enemy positions… at this moment my men are advancing across no
man’s land in full pack, dressing from left to right; the men are forbidden under pain of court-martial
to take cover in any shell hole or dugout… their magnificent morale will cause the enemy to flee in
confusion… the attack will be driven home with the bayonet… I feel that every step I take is guided
by the divine will.
Sounds of heavy bombardment.
NEWSPANEL
FEBRUARY… VERDUN… TOTAL LOSS ONE AND A HALF MILLION MEN.
HAIG
(looking through field-glasses)
This is most unsatisfactory. Where are the Sherwood Foresters? Where are the East Lancs on the
right?
BRITISH GENERAL
(who has entered during above speech)
Out in no man’s land.
HAIG
They are sluggish from too much sitting in the trenches.
BRITISH GENERAL
Most of them, sir, will never rise again.
HAIG
We must break through.
BRITISH GENERAL
Regardless of loss, sir?
HAIG
The loss of, say, another 300,000 men may lead to really great results.
BRITISH GENERAL
Yes, sir.
HAIG
And will not impede our ability to continue the offensive. In any case, we have to calculate on
another great offensive next year.
BRITISH GENERAL
If the slackers on the Home Front see it our way, sir.
HAIG
Quite.
BRITISH GENERAL
We are rather short of men, sir.
HAIG
What’s left?
BRITISH GENERAL
The new chappies from Ireland have just arrived.
HAIG
Rather wild untrained lot! Still, they’ll be raring to have a crack at the Boche, and what they lack in
training, they’ll make up for in gallantry.
BRITISH GENERAL
They’ve just got off the train. Most of them haven’t eaten for forty-eight hours –
HAIG
They are moving against a weakened and demoralised enemy. Capture the German line, without
further delay.