Macbeth Thesis Help

My English Final (June 9) is gonna be about Macbeth;

5 paragraph Quotation Explication choosing 1 of the 4 quotes my teacher provided

instructions:
"Quotation Explication asks you to analyze a specific passage from the text, situate it in the context of the entire plot, and then come up with an argument for what Shakespeare intended to express in this passage in order to comment on the themes of the story. Your evidence for the essay for your essay will ONLY come from the passage that you choose to write about."

We hardly practice explicating quotes in class, let alone essays, so I have very little understanding of this type of essay.


ACT II, Scene 1
Macbeth:
Is this a dagger which I see before me,
This handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch
Thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? (2.1.44-51)

ACT I, Scene 5
Lady Macbeth:
Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be
What thou promised. Yet do I fear thy nature;
It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness
To cathch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great,
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it. (1.5.15-20)

ACT IV, Scene 3
Malcom:
Macduff, this noble passion,
Child of Integrity, hath from my soul
Wipe the black scruples, reconciled my thoughts
To thy good truth and honor. Devilish Macbeth
By many of these trains hath sought to win me
Into his power, modest wisdom plucks me
From overcredulous haste. But God above
Deal between thee and me, for even now
I put myself to thy direction and
Unspeak mine own detraction, here abjure
The taints and blames I laid upon myself
For strangers to my nature. (4.3.133-144)

ACT V, Scene 1
Doctor:
Foul whisp'rings are abroad. Unnatural deeds
Do breed unnatural troubles. Infected minds
To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets.
More needs she the divine than the physician.
God, God forgive us all. Look after her.
Remove from her the means of all annoyance
And still keep eyes upon her. So, good night.
My minds she has mated, and amazed my sight.
I think but dare not speak. (5.1.75-83)



I need help choosing the right quote and explicating it, finding a compelling thesis, and knowing what topic I should have in each body paragraph.

teachers instructions for 'explicating the quote'
a. underline all important words (evidence)
b. brainstorm ideas/impressions derived from those words
c. locate speakers, purpose, occasion, and tone
d. write a short interpretation of the quote

The second and fifth quotations both look like they would be fairly easy to write on. Once you have picked a passage, start by coming up with a list of themes in Macbeth. Then, you can begin to think about how images and phrases in the passage connect to those themes. After that, just follow the instructions, and you'll soon have a draft you can post here for more feedback.

Only you know how familiar the play is to you and which scenes make the most sense to you. Of the quotes, choose the one that you understand best.

Then -- and this is most important: Follow your teacher's instructions. Do exactly as s/he says in the order you were directed to do those things:

The teacher has a method that s/he believes will work best for you to do this assignment. And it is a good method. Most importantly, if you fall short in any way and did not complete the assignment by the method directed, your teacher will be much less forgiving.

So, choose the quote. Underline all of the important words. Brainstorm on the basis of those words -- what images or ideas come to mind when you think of them? Identify the speakers, purpose, occasion, and tone. Then organize all of the data from those steps into an outline and then an essay.

Lets say I wanted to write my essay about Macbeth's greed for power.
I originally chose the first quote (ACT II, scene 1) because it was the easiest to understand (which isn't entirely a good reason).

My thesis was:
Shakespeare's Macbeth suggests greed can be the motivation to success, yet the fault that brings ones downfall as well.

My teacher's (woman) commented:
"So how does Macbeth react in the passage that demonstrates these two sides?"
Essentially, I need to elaborate more and go even more in-depth.
Only I don't know how.

How would I integrate the quote as my evidence/support??
Do I put bits of it into each body paragraph?

You've gotten ahead of yourself, choosing a thesis before analyzing the passage. The thesis must flow from the analysis of the passage, not vice versa. Again, I say, Follow your teacher's instructions. Underline all of the important words in the passage. Do some brainstorming based on those words and phrases... what ideas or images do they evoke. Next, jot down the speaker, purpose, context, and tone of the passage. Finally, look at everything you've written down to find your thesis about the quote.

This is why I suggested coming up with a list of themes, too. The passage you have picked has very little to do with greed (or more properly ambition), even though the nature of ambition is one of the themes of the play. Not every passage deals with every theme. The first passage deals more with the devastating effects of guilt. The second passage, which I recommended originally, does, however, deal with the nature of ambition, if that is a theme you would like to explore. Once you have chosen a passage, and have figured out which themes it deals with, then you can follow Simone's excellent advice, which is to do exactly what the teacher asked of you. With a theme in mind, your brainstorming will tend to result in insights that will be relevant to the final interpretation of the quotation that you have to write.