Homeschool Review: Macbeth Study Guide (Progeny Press) #hsreviews #progenypress #literatureunitstudies #literaryanalysis

This is a review of the MacBeth E-Guide from Progeny Press.  Keep reading to see how we are using it at Long Leaf Academy.

During my Senior year of English, we committed portions of famous literature to memory and were required to stand before the class to recite them.  As I am sure my teacher intended, those passages and the literary classics from which they came have been branded into my mind ever since.  From Macbeth we quoted Lady Macbeth's famous lines from the sleepwalking scene:

Yet here's a spot.

Out, damned spot! out, I say!

and the chant of the Three Witches:

Double, double toil and trouble; 

Fire burn, and caldron bubble. 

It was almost scandalous for me to repeat those lines in front of people but I understood the importance of the writing.  As a homeschooling momma, I have always wanted to make sure that my children understand cultural references in college and in conversation so it has been important to me that we study the classics.  Shakespeare is a definite "must study" so I was excited to use the Macbeth E-Guide.  Progeny Press makes it easy for us to learn about all types of literature and it especially helps break down the language barrier that some find in the writings of Shakespeare.

The 54-page E-Guide begins with a special note on the introduction of Shakespeare to students and recommends a specific annotated edition of the play to read and study in order that your child not become frustrated in reading.  Parents are reminded that Shakespeare's works were written to be performed and not read.  I appreciated both the reminder and recommendation so was happy to have it.  Like you, I aim to set my daughter up for success.

The E-Guide shares a synopsis of the play, background information (the who, what, where,and when of Shakespeare's audience), and a short biographical sketch of the author himself.  We began our study here.  AFTER my daughter had read these sections, I assigned 3 of the 7 pre-reading activities suggested.  These included Scripture reading, map work, and a video on Scotland.  I asked her to copy favorite passages and quotes from the play as she read it into a notebook.  (Don't tell her, but these will become "quotables" in her upcoming Speech class.  It really was a good idea.)

Broken down by Acts, the E-Guide directs students to read one act at a time and then offers Vocabulary word work (matching exercises, synonyms, and dictionary usage), Scrambled Quotation work, short answer General Questions, Analysis, and Character Analysis work, a Dig Deeper Bible study section of questions that parallels the literary text with GOD's Word, AND Extra Activities that bring it all home.  These Extras include research, art, music, and drama.  With such a wide range of "extras", there is something to appeal to all students.  My daughter gravitates toward the art and music options, but I encourage her to choose a variety of "fun" activities to expand the class work.  By using all of these components together, she is able to get a clear picture of Macbeth as a whole.

The E-Guide format is perfect because it is interactive.  This means my girl types her answers directly into the study guide.  She loves this option as opposed to writing it all down on paper.  (I like that there is an 11-page Answer Key to help me grade her responses.  After all, it's been over 30 years since I studied Macbeth.)  Once she completes the entire guide, we will print it out and add it to her Literature notebook.  There are 8 Writing Projects found at the end of the E-Guide.  I had her choose 2 to write for Macbeth.  She adds these to her notebook as well.  There are Additional Resources recommended and we pick a few of those to add to our study.  We are enjoying watching the movie remakes of many of Shakespeare's plays.  When all of these components have been successfully completed, Progeny Press recommends that each Study Guide is the equivalent to 1/4 of a high school literature credit for students.  All completed work goes into her Literature notebook and we will assign credit accordingly at the end of the year.

Progeny Press offers a huge selection of literature study guides for students of all ages.  There are companion guides available for Kindergarten - High School level literature -- and college students and parents can benefit from them as well when they re-read and study old favorites.  My absolute favorite thing about these literary guides is that they are written from a Christian perspective.  How wonderful that we can use study guides for literature presented from a Christian perspective to earn credit on the high school transcript.  Each title in the Progeny Press literature curriculum has been well researched and I fell confident assigning it to my daughter to read and study through with no monitoring needed from me.  I know that all literary situations (the good, the bad, and the ugly) are fairly represented and that Progeny Press points my child to the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE as she grasps a deeper understanding of literature through an in-depth study of the author, time period, and words of the text.  My daughter is learning how the authors actually craft their stories as she studies the theme and ideas introduced.  I like "big picture" learning.


There really is something available for students at all grade levels at Progeny Press.  In our opinion, they continue excellence in all of their Study Guides.  It is nice to use resources that help bring books and plays to life in a way that makes students want to read.  Don't you agree?  You can find the perfect study for your family by visiting the following Social Media sites:

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Progeny Press has a special way of turning the reading of a book from a "boring" assignment into a fascinating literary unit of exploration for my family.  We've used quite a few Progeny Press Study Guides through the years (you might remember our reviews of To Kill a Mockingbird,  Anne of Green Gables, Treasure Island, The Cay, and Julius Caesar) and they always make our school year much more interesting.  I was excited to add Macbeth to our study of Shakespeare this year.

I was given the opportunity to review MacBeth E-Guide from Progeny Press as a member of the Homeschool Review Crew.   You can check out the Crew Review and see what other members of the Homeschool Review Crew thought of this Study Guide and others.

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