| Lesson Plan | ||||
| Topic: | Sophocles, Tragedy, and Greek Theatre | DAY FOUR | ||
| Objective: | 1. Students will be able
to identify background information on Sophocles. 2. Students will be able to define tragedy and apply the definition to Oedipus the King. 3. Students will be able to identify the significance of costumes and masks in Greek performances. 4. Students will create their own masks and develop a character descriptions for their masks. Competency Goal 1.02 – Learners will exhibit an awareness of Greek culture in which Oedipus the King is both set and was written. |
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| Activities | Description of activity | Time | Materials | |
| Anticipatory Set | Collect rough drafts for one article. Clarify any questions. Re-emphasize voice of plot article and the fact that the graphic must relate to one of the articles and needs an explanation. | 5 min | ||
| Objective | Today we will look at what Greek theatre was like when Sophocles wrote Oedipus the King. We will focus on festivals, the tragedy, and Sophocles himself. Outline: |
2 min | outline on board | |
| Instructional Input | Sophocles: born around 496 BC, died in 406 BC Athenian from village community of Colonus Wealthy family Attractive and well liked At first, he both acted and wrote plays First gained attention as a playwright at 28 years ld when he won an annual competition beating Aeschylus. Wrote 123 plays, only 7 are left. Won around 20 prizes Sophocles added several innovations to Greek theatre including the addition of skenes, the addition of the third actor, changed chorus from 12 to 20 people, and invented deus ex machina (a deity brought in by stage machinery to intervene in the action). |
15 min | ||
| Tragedy: type of drama that shows the destruction of a noble, outstanding person. What does tragedy do? - shows the difficulty of realizing individuality - accepts the double nature of enlightenment (price and reward of human's struggle with limitations. Checking for Understanding: where do we see the effects of tragedy in Oedipus the King so far? | ||||
| Festivals: Giant parties given in honor of gods Put on whenever gods needed to be worshipped or people needed guidance One of the Greeks most important rituals These festivals were both for worship and for enjoyment City Dionysia was a festival for Dionysus—god of wine and fertility At festivals, people would sing stories until the 6th C BC when Thespis, a Dionysian priest acted out a Dionysiac myth — Drama was born. The first competition for best play in 538 BC - awarded prizes to the top three tragedies |
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| Theatre: Performers: - Before 5th BC, 12 people in chorus. Then, up to 50 people in chorus - 3 actors - No women Performance Space: - Performance space was a circular space where chorus danced and sang. - Situated on foot of hill - Slope made natural theatre- watching place - In 465 BC- began using backdrops known as skenes (courtesy of Sophocles) - Writers used Eccyclema- a stage convention where terrible, violent events take place off stage. Keeps whatever might be intensely private out of the public eye. |
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| Audience: - up to 14, 000 people in audience - First seats were wooden, built into side of hill - Around 499 BC, laid stone blocks to create permanent seating - Audience would mock, yell, and throw food at bad performances - To calm audience, there was generally an opening performance (comedic or telling of the basic legend) Costume/Masks: - costume showed status and gender - masks depicted emotions and age - made of wood - helped to generate voice, acted like a megaphone - used large gestures. |
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| Checking for Understanding/ Modeling | Discuss how this relates to Oedipus the King. Has there been a scene change? What haven't we seen so far? In our experience of Oedipus the King, we learned the basic legend before reading. Talk about how that makes a difference in the reception of the story (Dramatic Irony). Write notes on the as students discuss the connection between the play and the background information | 10 min | ||
| Guided practice | Make Masks: Remember that Greek masks emphasize emotion. Create a mask that clearly expresses one emotion of your choice. 1. Decide which character from Oedipus the King your mask is going to depict. 2. What emotion do you feel is prominent for your character? 3. Use construction paper, markers, and any other art supplies you brought to create your own Greek mask. | 20 min | ||
| Independent Practice | Homework: Write one paragraph describing your character. Why did you decide to show the emotion that you chose? What is significant about this character? Why did you choose this character? Read pages 285 - 291. Continue to follow motifs. |
