The Supernatural in "Macbeth"

Macbeth Supernatural, no matter if you believe in it or not it still attracts the audience's heart. In the time of William Shakespeare there was a strong belief in the existence of the supernatural. Thus, the supernatural is s recurring aspect in many of Mr. Shakespeare's plays. In "Macbeth", the supernatural is an integral part of the structure of the plot. Not only do witches appear but also a floating dagger transforms into reality. Shakespeare intelligently introduced the elements of the supernatural in Act 1, Scene 3. Shakespeare located his scene in a mysterious marshy, deserted "heath" on a day with "thunder", perfect for paranormal activity. Thunder and lightning was believed to be associated with evil, and when the play was presented in Shakespeare's time, cannonballs would be rolled to create the sound effect. Three characters are introduced; immediately we knew that they are involved with the supernatural because the second witch told the others that she was "killing swine". Witches tried to hide from humans in fear of being burned at stakes, so they had to be in an empty heath to meet Macbeth. Back in the day, witches were blamed for the death of animals. Also, the witches repeated phrases three times. "I'll do, I'll do, I'll do" and instead of any other number of witches, there were three of them. The number three was regarded as a magic number. The

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Use of a Redox Indicator to show Dehydrogenase Activity

Use of a Redox Indicator to show Dehydrogenase Activity Hypothesis: As the temperature increases, the time taken for the colour change to occur will decrease. Introduction: Triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (also known as T.T.C) is an example of an artificial hydrogen acceptor. It is a redox indicator which is colourless when oxidised, however when reduced, it produces a red, insoluble precipitate called 'formazans'. T.T.C can therefore be used to investigate the enzyme activity of dehyrogenase enzymes by showing a colour change when they are present. The purpose of this experiment is to see what effect temperature has on the activity of dehydrogenase enzymes within yeast cells. Materials/Apparatus: * Actively respiring yeast suspension. This is prepared by adding 10g of dried yeast to 1dm3 of distilled water, followed by mixing in 50g of glucose. This mixture should be allowed to stand for 24 hours before the experiment takes place. * Tiphenyl tetrazolium chloride is used as a redox indicator to investigate the activity of dehydrogenase enzymes when yeast suspension is exposed to different temperatures. * Distilled water for the preparation of the yeast suspension. * Test tubes to place the mixture of yeast and T.T.C. * Test tube rack to allow the test tubes to stand upright in the water baths. * Incubator to allow enzyme activity to occur at different temperatures *

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Science
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What is the importance of the land in Twentieth Century Irish Poetry?

What is the importance of the land in Twentieth Century Irish Poetry? Land in the Twentieth Century was very important to the Irish nation, and this is portrayed through the works of certain pieces of poetry, written by native countrymen Thomas Kinsella and Seamus Heaney. The poem 'Wormwood' is expressed by Thomas Kinsella in a powerful and descriptive manner where the reader can experience the deepest thoughts of the writer, in his or her own way. The reader feels a sense of involvement as Kinsella sets the scene in the dank woods: "In a thicket, among wet trees, stunned, minutely Shuddering, hearing a wooden echo escape." Kinsella informs us of a tree, which he is in fact bewildered by. How he has never come across a tree like this before. It has a certain grace and elegance due to its individuality. The sheer size of the tree he finds mesmerizing, and describing the slenderness of how the tree appears to the naked eye: "The two trees in their infinitesimal dance of growth Have turned completely about one another, their join A slowly twisted scar..." Then Kinsella's dreams are shattered, as a kind of axe breaks the bond between these two trees. As this axe shatters the tree it also shatters the dreams of Kinsella: "A wooden stroke: Iron sinks in the gasping core. I will dream it again." Wormwood was one of Kinsella's poems which he wrote during the twentieth

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  • Word count: 830
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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