Antigone Unit
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3| Day 4| Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 |
Enduring Understanding
Essentional Questions:
Assessment Evidence
A.Performance Task: Compose an AP Essay
1. Unlike the novelist, the writer of a play does not use his own voice and only rarely uses a narrator's voice to guide the audience's responses to character and action. Select a play you have read and write an essay in which you explain the techniques the playwright uses to guide his audience's responses to the central characters and the action. You might consider the effect on the audience of things like setting, the use of comparable and contrasting characters, and the characters' responses to each other. Support your argument with specific references to the play. Do not give a plot summary.
2. The conflict created when the will of an individual opposes the will of the majority is the recurring theme of many novels, plays, and essays. Select the work of an essayist who is in opposition to his or her society; or from a work of recognized literary merit, select a fictional character who is in opposition to his or her society. In a critical essay, analyze the conflict and discuss the moral and ethical implications for both the individual and the society. Do not summarize the plot or action of the work you choose.
B. Other Evidence-
Aim: In what ways are Antigone and Ismene different?
Objective: Students will be able to describe the differences between the two sisters' character.
Agenda
1. Do Now: Journal Writing #1 Describe the importance of the burial of the dead in your culture OR use the list below-
Please highlight all of the following traditions you feel are practiced in any capacity in our society today (or within your family).
1. | Bury or burn the body to keep the soul from wandering the earth. Believed ghosts brought disease/disaster. |
2. | Dead is washed and dressed in fine clothing. |
3. | The mouth and eyes of the dead are shut to prevent the psyche (phantom and soul) from leaving the body. |
4. | Mourners wore black and cut their hair. |
5. | Procession behind the body in the streets. |
6. | Wine was poured on gravesite and a sacrifice of food and drink were made for the dead. |
7. | Flowers placed on the gravesite. |
8. | Funeral feast prepared for mourners. |
9. | Buried the dead outside the city walls in a necropolis (“city of the dead”). |
10. | Coin was placed in the dead’s mouth to pay the ferryman for a ride across the River Styx into the underworld. |
Word Origin Notes:
Cemetery means literally “sleeping chamber” | |
Tomb – from Greek work tymbos = “burial ground” |
Mini Lesson( A-M-T)
1. Introduce the Setting
The drama begins at dawn, after a night in which there has been a war in Thebes between armies led by the two sons of Oedipus. Keep in mind that the Greek theater was in the open air, and that the first performances of the day would begin at daybreak. Thu s, imagine that the time of day of the setting would be identical to the performance time.
As you read the first scene, consider the gravity of the city's condition and how aware Antigone seems of it.Throughout the play, Antigone and Creon will talk much about friends and enemies. Think about what each means by these terms. In general, Antigone and Creon tend to use the same words but mean different things by them. For example, consider Antigone's reference to being a "traitor" . This is a political term; does Antigone mean a traitor to the city, or to something else? Why does Antigone assume that Creon's order is directed against her and Ismene?
2. In small groups, discuss the follwoing questions -
3. Transfer Knowledge:
Do you consider Antigone a feminist in today's society? Why or why not?
HW #36 1. Select a poem fromthe list to read and respond: Are feministic attitudes revealed in their poems? How?
Emily Dickinson:
•"I'm Nobody" •"My Life Had Stood -- a Loaded Gun" •"Tell All the Truth But Tell it Slant" •"'Twas Like a Maelstrom ..."
Elizabeth Barrett Browning:
•"Aurora Leigh" •Love Sonnets
Christina Rossetti:
•"Goblin Market" •Love Sonnets
2. Read Scene 1
3. AP Voc
Objective: Students will understand the use of rhetorical devices such as logos, ethos and pathos through Creon's speech.
Aim: What kind of leader is Creon based on his speech to the crowd and his dialogue with the Sentry? If you were among the audience, after hearing the speech, how would you feel?
Agenda
Do Now: 1.Describe your understanding of a good leader; the characteristcs of a good speech made by a leade of any sort.
Mini Lesson (A-M-T)
1. Teaching Point:What kind kind of rhetorical devices such as logos, ethoa and pathos did Creaon use in his speech? It is very important that you do not project Creon's later conduct back into his first speech. Read this speech carefully, consider his values and beliefs, and ask yourself whether there is anything wrong with his principles, whether in Greek terms or your own. Later, compare Creon's subsequent actions with the principles he articulates here.
Throughout this scene, pay close attention to the assumptions Creon makes about gender.
When Creon talks about the gods and the law , is he talking about the same types of gods as Antigone does?
2. Student Activity:
Group 1
Group 2
- How is the way the people see Creon at the beginning of Scene I similar to the way the people used to see Oedipus?
- In his long speech, Creon says "no Ruler can expect complete loyalty from his subjects until he has been tested in office." (p. 196) However, what is the justification he uses to say that he must be obey
- Why do you think Creon seems to be preoccupied with revolt and strife?
- "Only a crazy man is in love with death!" (Choragos, p. 198) How might this statement apply to Creon?
Group 3
Group 4
- Comment on "There's nothing in the world so demoralizing as money." (Creon, p. 201)
- Why do you think the Sentry is afraid to tell Creon that Polyneices has been buried? Are his fears justified? How does this reflect Creon's leadership?
Group 5
- Why does Creon accuse the Sentry of the crime of burying Polyneices?
- How do you think this line might be prophetic: "How dreadful it is when the right judge judges wrong!" (Sentry, p. 203)
Group 6
- When Creon talks about the gods and the law , is he talking about the same types of gods as Antigone does?
Group 7
- How are logos, ethos and pathos used in Creon's speech?
3. Transfer knowledge : What kind of leader is Creon based on his speech to the crowd and his dialogue with the Sentry? If you were among the audience, after hearing the speech, how would you feel?
HW#37 1. Read scene 2
2. Voc. 121-123
3.Study the definition and effect of logo, etho and patho and analyze how they are used in Creon's speech as appeared in scene 1.
Objective : Students will understand the rhetorical devices used Antigone's speech , through which she defends her action.
Aim:
Agenda
Do Now: Journal Writing- Describe a situation in which you feel fulfilling both your social responsibilities and individual ones is in conflict or impossible. How would you solve such a dilemma ? Explain the reason behind such a decision.
Mini Lesson-
Teaching Point-
Student Activities-
A. Discuss the followng questions in your small groups:
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Group 5
Group 6
Group 7
B. Knowledge transfer: How can we use the rhetorical devices such as logos. ethos and pathos in our own speech?
HW#38
1. Read the article "Terrains of Difference: Reading Shelley and Dickinson on Autumn" by Joanne Feit Diehl and write down-
2. Answer your small group questions
3.Read Scene 3
4. Voc. 124-126
Day 4 (Scene 3)
Objective: Students will be able to understand the rhetorical deviced Haemon uses in his sppech to persuade his father Creon.
Aim:
Agenda,
1.Do Now: Journal Writing-
Think of an issue for which you are really concerned. Pick an audience. What would you say to convince them?
1. Teaching Point( Acquisition)-
Skills: deductive and inductive reasoning in a persuasive speech
Deduction: In the process of deduction, you begin with some statements, called 'premises', that are assumed to be true, you then determine what else would have to be true if the premises are true. For example, you can begin by assuming that God exists, and is good, and then determine what would logically follow from such an assumption. You can begin by assuming that if you think, then you must exist, and work from there. In mathematics, you can also start will a premise and begin to prove other equations or other premises. With deduction you can provide absolute proof of your conclusions, given that your premises are correct. The premises themselves, however, remain unproven and unprovable, they must be accepted on face value, or by faith, or for the purpose of exploration.1
Examples of deductive logic:
All men are mortal. Joe is a man. Therefore Joe is mortal. If the first two statements are true, then the conclusion must be true.2
Bachelor's are unmarried men. Bill is unmarried. Therefore, Bill is a bachelor.3
To get a Bachelor's degree at Utah Sate University, a student must have 120 credits. Sally has more than 130 credits. Therefore, Sally has a bachelor's degree.
InductionInduction: In the process of induction, you begin with some data, and then determine what general conclusion(s) can logically be derived from those data. In other words, you determine what theory or theories could explain the data. For example, you note that the probability of becoming schizophrenic is greatly increased if at least one parent is schizophrenic, and from that you conclude that schizophrenia may be inherited. That is certainly a reasonable hypothesis given the data. However, induction does not prove that the theory is correct. There are often alternative theories that are also supported by the data. For example, the behavior of the schizophrenic parent may cause the child to be schizophrenic, not the genes. What is important in induction is that the theory does indeed offer a logical explanation of the data. To conclude that the parents have no effect on the schizophrenia of the children is not supportable given the data, and would not be a logical conclusion.1
Examples of inductive logic:
This cat is black. That cat is black A third cat is black. Therefore all cats are are black.2
This marble from the bag is black. That marble from the bag is black. A third marble from the bag is black. Therefore all the marbles in the bag black.2
Deduction and induction by themselves are inadequate to make a compelling argument. While deduction gives absolute proof, it never makes contact with the real world, there is no place for observation or experimentation, no way to test the validity of the premises. And, while induction is driven by observation, it never approaches actual proof of a theory. Therefore an effective paper will include both types of logic
2. Small group discussion ( meaning making)-
Homework Assignment #39:
Objective:
Aim:
1.How did Antigone's moods change in this scene?
2.What is the Chorus's stand on the issue of Antigine's endeavor?
3.
How does Tiresias try to persuade Creon to set Antigone free? Why does not Creon follow his advice? What does his fefusal to listen reveal?(Scene 5)
Agenda-
Do Now: Journal Writing- Respond to the lines by Antigone and explain what they reveal ,"Look upon me, friends, and pity me/ ...Good-by to the sun that shines for me no longer;/Now sleepy Death/Summons me down to Acheron, that cold shore:/There is no bridesong there, nor any music."
1. Teaching Point: (Acquisition)
Allusion- Note the chorus' reference to Antigone's "bridal vault" . What do they mean by referring to a wedding chamber? This will be an important image in the last part of the play. Antigone becomes a "Bride of Death" (or "Bride of Hades"). To understand the importance of this metaphor, you might benefit from reading the Hymn to Demeter, which tells the story of Demeter and Persephone. Strangely, the maternal imagery continues with Antigone as well, as she tries to compare herself with Niobe . After reading about Niobe, consider what Antigone does and does not share with that mythical figure..How would you characterize the chorus' exchange with Antigone here? Consider Antigone's speech. Is this speech consistent with what she has argued before? Is Antigone's faith in the gods wavering here?
2. Meaning Making- In your mall group, discuss-
Scenen IV
Group 1:
Group 2:
Group 3:
Scene V
Group 4
Group 5
Group 6
Group 7:
3. Knowledge transfer:
Homework Assignments#40
Objective: Students will be able to use deductive reasoning to conclude that one's character determines one's fate not visa versa.
Aim: How were the events which occur in Exodos foreshadowed earlier in the play?
Agenda
1. Do Now: In your journal, respond to "...Fate faises up,/ And Fate casts down the happy and unhappy alike:/No man can foretell his Fate". Do you agree? Use a work of literature to illustrate your opinions.
2. Mini lesson-
similar to the last four lines of Oedipus Rex,
- "Let every man in mankind's frailty/ Consider his last day; and let none/ Presume on his good fortune until he find/ Life, at this death, a memory without pain"
4. Group 4: Is Creon a tragic figure? Do you feel sympathy for him at the end as someone who initially tried to do good yet was overwhelmed by circumstance, or do you believe that he is a bullying, misogynistic control-freak who gets what he deserves? Try to compe up with arguments for both sides
5. Group 5: Could the play have been called Creon, instead? Why or why not?
6. Group 6: .If Oedipus were still alive after many years in exile, what would he say to Creon?
Assignment #41:
Objective: Students will demonstrate the rhetorical skills they have learned through the play Antigone
Aim: What makes a speech convincing?
Agenda
1. Do Now: Review notes on Creon and Antigone's speeches and the rhetorical strategies Sophocles uses in writing the speech.
2. Teaching Point( Acquisition):
2. (Meaning making)In small groups of four, share examples of logs, ethos and pathos from the speech you have written. Select the best examples to present to the class.
3. Knowledge transfer: For what purposes can we see ourselves use these rhetorical techniques and reasoning methods?
Homework#42
1.Performance Task: Compose an AP Essay on ONE of the assignments below-
a. Unlike the novelist, the writer of a play does not use his own voice and only rarely uses a narrator's voice to guide the audience's responses to character and action. Select a play you have read and write an essay in which you explain the techniques the playwright uses to guide his audience's responses to the central characters and the action. You might consider the effect on the audience of things like setting, the use of comparable and contrasting characters, and the characters' responses to each other. Support your argument with specific references to the play. Do not give a plot summary.
b. The conflict created when the will of an individual opposes the will of the majority is the recurring theme of many novels, plays, and essays. Select the work of an essayist who is in opposition to his or her society; or from a work of recognized literary merit, select a fictional character who is in opposition to his or her society. In a critical essay, analyze the conflict and discuss the moral and ethical implications for both the individual and the society. Do not summarize the plot or action of the work you choose.
2. AP Voc.138-140.