PREMIÈRE · UPPER SECONDARY · B1+ towards B2

Summative test

Summative test

Answer all questions. Marked out of 20: questions 1 to 4, 2 points each; questions 5 and 6, 3 points each; question 7, 6 points.

  1. Name the king Macbeth murders and the place of the murder. (2)
  2. Who is James I and why does he matter for the play? (2)
  3. Explain "equivocation" with one example from the play. (2)
  4. Scan this line and name its metre: "Is this a dagger which I see before me". (2)
  5. Identify and explain the figure of speech in "Life's but a walking shadow". (3)
  6. Compare Lady Macbeth in Act I, Scene 5 and in Act V, Scene 1. (3)
  7. Essay question (150 words): "Ambition is the real witch of the play." Discuss. (6)
Answer key and marking
  1. Duncan, at Macbeth's castle in Inverness.
  2. King of England from 1603, fascinated by witchcraft, author of Daemonologie (1597), believed to descend from Banquo.
  3. Ambiguous language hiding the truth: "none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth", or the Porter's equivocator.
  4. Iambic pentameter, with an extra unstressed eleventh syllable (feminine ending).
  5. A metaphor: life is compared to a shadow, unreal and fleeting; it expresses Macbeth's nihilism.
  6. From a cruel, controlling woman who calls on evil spirits to a broken sleepwalker haunted by guilt.
  7. Marking: clear thesis (2), two arguments with quotations (2), language (2). Suggested points: the witches only reveal desires; Macbeth's "vaulting ambition"; Lady Macbeth's role; the tyranny that follows.

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