Macbeth Newspaper Article Project

Individually, you will be writing a newspaper article about the murder of King Duncan.

1. Using your Map of Scotland, pick a city and create a name for your newspaper. For example, The Dunsinane Daily Journal (you are NOT allowed to use this example) 2. You must have a headline that includes a “hook” (something that grabs the reader’s attention and practically insists that he or she read the whole story). “King Duncan’s Dead!” is NOT an effective headline. It does nothing to draw the reader in. “Duncan Murdered, Macbeth Seizes Throne!” IS an effective headline (and one that you are NOT allowed to use). 3. You must include a picture with a caption. Example: a picture of a bloody knife with the caption, “One of the bloody knives found at the scene of the crime. Macbeth, Thane of Cawdor, executed the two men believed to have committed the crime, Duncan’s guardsmen.” Again, you are NOT allowed to use this example (you can have a picture a bloody knife but the caption must be different).

If you have difficulty cutting and pasting a picture from your computer or the Internet into your document, I would suggest printing out your article and then adding the picture (don’t forget the caption). 4. The key elements of a newspaper report involve Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How (in this case, the “Why” and “How” are not known clearly, so you should include guesses as to the reason(s) for both). You must have a statement (or statements) that details the facts of the murder. You must mention King Duncan, his guards, Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth. 5. Remember: only Lady Macbeth and Macbeth know what REALLY happened. Therefore, your article should NOT include facts such as “Macbeth killed Duncan” or “Lady Macbeth smeared Duncan’s blood on the faces of his guardsmen.” You are reporting on what everyone believes to be the events of the evening. 6. The assignment is to be typed, single-spaced, in newspaper-style format (two columns). You must have a minimum of 5 newspaper-style paragraphs of information.

There are three styles of newspaper article from which you can choose:

A serious front-page article from a well-respected newspaper like The Philadelphia Inquirer. If you choose this style, your article will detail (in a straightforward manner) almost all of the facts of the murder that were known to the general public. It will professionally address some of the rumors surrounding the murder by using a phrase such as: “A confidential source believes that…”

A somewhat serious article that uses comic relief, similar to the style used in the Sports section of The Philadelphia Daily News. If you choose this style, your article will detail almost all of the facts of the murder that were known to the general public. However, you must provide a break from the sad story by using humor or by using language more appropriate to that of two friends having a conversation. An example which you may NOT use would be: “Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse in Scotland after last month’s twenty straight days of rain, they did.”

A tabloid report from a tabloid such as Star Magazine. If you choose this style, your article will detail almost all of the facts of the murder that were known to the general public. In addition, the article will contain a large amount of rumors and will be written in what is known as a sensationalist style of writing. An example you may NOT use would be: “Macbeth is really a space alien!!”

The language of all articles must be appropriate for school. The inclusion of foul language or other inappropriate material will result in points being deducted from your grade.