UTL 640E, Haug Pflugerville High School/PISD Date of lesson: March 26, 2014

Molly Whiting AP English IV/ 12th grade Lesson Plan #3/Teaches #4 & 5

Apollo, Dionysus, and Hamlet

Objectives: Working in small groups and as a whole class, students will be able to understand and apply Nietzsches concept of Dionysian and Apollonian duality to Hamlet by using a graphic organizer to identify three examples of each type of characteristic in order understand how an authors use of allusion can impact readers' understanding of character and theme. Enduring Understanding/Essential Questions: Theoretical and philosophical frameworks can serve to deepen analytical thinking when applied to literary texts. Factual: What is the distinction Nietzsche makes between Dionysian and Apollonian characteristics? Conceptual: How can this conceptual dichotomy be applied to the characters of Hamlet? Philosophical: Which of these aspects (Dionysian or Apollonian) are most relevant to contemporary society, and why? Resources/Materials: A. To Do Before: a. Read excerpt of The Birth of Tragedy multiple times for familiarity. b. Make handouts of the excerpt for students. c. Find clips from film version of Hamlet to exemplify characteristics of the Apollonian and Dionysian duality. d. Identify examples from the text in which Hamlet exemplifies characteristics of each aspect. e. Create powerpoint slide for engagement set with examples of mythological references from the play. B. Needed on the Day of Lesson: a. Handouts for students b. My copy of Hamlet c. Students notebook paper to create and complete graphic organizer d. Computer/projector to display electronic timer during group work TEKS: From 110.34. English Language Arts and Reading, English IV (1) Reading/Vocabulary Development. Students understand new vocabulary and use it when reading and writing. Students are expected to: (A) determine the meaning of technical academic English words in multiple content areas (e.g., science, mathematics, social studies, the arts) derived from Latin, Greek, or other linguistic roots and affixes;

UTL 640E, Haug Molly Whiting Pflugerville High School/PISD AP English IV/ 12th grade Date of lesson: March 26, 2014 Lesson Plan #3/Teaches #4 & 5 (B) analyze textual context (within a sentence and in larger sections of text) to draw conclusions about the nuance in word meanings; (4) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Drama. Students understand, make inferences and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of drama and provide evidence from text to support their understanding. (6) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Literary Nonfiction. Students understand, make inferences and draw conclusions about the varied structural patterns and features of literary nonfiction and provide evidence from text to support their understanding. Students are expected to analyze the effect of ambiguity, contradiction, subtlety, paradox, irony, sarcasm, and overstatement in literary essays, speeches, and other forms of literary nonfiction. (24) Listening and Speaking/Listening. Students will use comprehension skills to listen attentively to others in formal and informal settings. Students will continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are expected to: (A) listen responsively to a speaker by framing inquiries that reflect an understanding of the content and by identifying the positions taken and the evidence in support of those positions (26) Listening and Speaking/Teamwork. Students work productively with others in teams. Students will continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are expected to participate productively in teams, offering ideas or judgments that are purposeful in moving the team towards goals, asking relevant and insightful questions, tolerating a range of positions and ambiguity in decision-making, and evaluating the work of the group based on agreed-upon criteria. Steps in Lesson: A. Engagement5 minutes Illustrate the importance of Greek mythology to the text of Hamlet. - Begin by putting up a slide that provides quotes from Hamlet that reference Greek mythological figures. - Ask if students can identify what the quotes have in common. Assess students prior knowledge of Apollo and Dionysus. - These quotes show that Greek mythology was very relevant to the culture in which Shakespeare wrote. Today we are going to talk about two specific mythological figures, Apollo and Dionysus. - In a minute, we will read an excerpt that uses these figures to propose a philosophical framework that we can use to think about art and humanity. Before we dive in to the very particular way that the excerpt describes Apollo and Dionysus, lets talk for a moment about who these figures are in general. What do you know about Apollo? What do you know about Dionysus? Depending on the depth of students prior knowledge, provide some basic background information about Apollo and Dionysus.

UTL 640E, Haug Molly Whiting Pflugerville High School/PISD AP English IV/ 12th grade Date of lesson: March 26, 2014 Lesson Plan #3/Teaches #4 & 5 - Apollo is best known as the Greek god of the sun. He is often depicted driving a chariot of fiery horses across the sky, bringing light to the world. In keeping with this image of a light-bearer, Apollo is also the god of truth and dreams, a figure of prophecy and oracles. - Dionysus is the Greek god of wine. He is associated with ecstasy and intoxication, and the festivals celebrating him were wild and drunken affairs in which the ancient Greeks were free from the normal taboos of society. B. Stated Objective1 minute Today we are going to read an excerpt from The Birth of Tragedy by the German philosopher Frederich Nietzsche that looks at Apollo and Dionysus and how these two figures represent a duality of human nature. While Nietzsches main focus in on ancient Greek tragedies, we will use the conceptual framework he describes to analyze the characters of Hamlet. After reading and discussing the excerpt as a class, you will break up into your multiple choice groups. Each group is going to create a graphic organizer that show how Nietzsches concept applies to Hamlet. You will need your copies of the text to provide evidence for your analysis. C. Active Learning 60 minutes As a class, students will read short excerpt from The Birth of Tragedy. Teacher will ask questions to check for understanding throughout the passage, providing additional information where necessary. (15 minutes) - Nietzsche refers to Dionysus and Apollo as the two gods of art. What types of art do each figure represent? How is this relevant to the duality he proposes? - How does Apollo being the god of dreams (the inner fantasy world) help us to understand him as a symbol of reason and the principle of individuation? Have you ever had a dream that you thought was real at first? How did you come to realize that it was illusory? - How does Nietzsche characterize the type of celebration that he describes as Dionysian? What events in modern society can we compare this type of revelry to? (Mardi Gras, Carnival, etc.) Modeling/Checking for Understanding: Through class discussion, students will apply Nietzsches concept to characters in Hamlet, beginning with Claudius and Ophelia. (15 minutes) - Teacher will play a short clip of the soliloquy in which Claudius reveals his guilt from the film version of Hamlet that students have been watching in class (1 min 32 second excerpt of following clip on youtube: http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCrq7UhVUK0) and lead discussion of how Claudius exemplifies the Apollonian aspect of Nietzsches proposed duality. - Repeat this process with another short clip from the film, this time Ophelias famous mad scene (from 0:50 to 2:50 of the following clip on

UTL 640E, Haug Molly Whiting Pflugerville High School/PISD AP English IV/ 12th grade Date of lesson: March 26, 2014 Lesson Plan #3/Teaches #4 & 5 youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hwJ8_mBeiQ). Discuss how Ophelia exemplifies the Dionysian aspect of Nietzsches duality. Guided Practice: Turn the discussion to the character Hamlet. Invite students to explore the idea that Hamlet contains characteristics of BOTH aspects of Nietzsches duality. Through class discussion, identify ONE example of each characteristic from the text. (10 minutes) - Ask the question: Does Hamlet represent the Apollonian or Dionysian side of the duality? What evidence do they have to support their claim? (Hopefully, students will have varying opinions, which will lead to the idea that different aspects of Hamlets personality place him somewhere in the middle of the Apollonian/Dionysian dichotomy.) - Possible examples of Hamlets Apollonian characteristics: his unwillingness to commit suicide despite his desire to, his decision not to kill Claudius when he was praying, his play-within-a-play scheme, etc. - Possible examples of Hamlets Dionysian characteristics: his raging confrontation of Gertrude in her bedroom, the murder of Polonius, jumping into Ophelias grave, etc. - Steer students toward specific examples rather than general statements. Have them go back to the text to find evidence to support their claims. Independent Practice: In groups, students will identify two more examples of each type of characteristic, using a simple graphic organizer. (20 minutes) - Have students break into their multiple choice groups. Each group will appoint one member to write down their findings. To create the graphic organizer, simply have the scribe fold a fresh sheet of notebook paper in half vertically. - Instruct students to use one half of the paper to record examples of Hamlets Apollonian characteristics, and the other half for examples of his Dionysian characteristics. Ask that students provide one direct quote from the text for each example, along with a brief explanation. - Let groups know they have 20 minutes to work on this activity, and remind them to stay on track. Post electronic timer on projector screen for them to self-monitor their progress. - As the groups work, teacher will move around the room listening to conversation and adding feedback/answering questions as necessary. D. Closure3 minutes Collect graphic organizers from the groups and have students move back to their normal seats. Pose a final question to the class: if a student was absent and called you up tonight and asked what happened in English class today, what would you tell them? In other words, assess students take-away from the lesson. After one student answers, ask if anyone else has anything to add to what that person said. Repeat several times as necessary.

UTL 640E, Haug Molly Whiting Pflugerville High School/PISD AP English IV/ 12th grade Date of lesson: March 26, 2014 Lesson Plan #3/Teaches #4 & 5 Thank students for their participation and attention! Modifications/Differentiation: Follow IEPs Evaluation Strategies: Throughout the lesson, I will use questions to informally check for understanding. At the end of the lesson, I will collect the graphic organizers from each group and review them to determine whether or not they were successful in finding examples from the text that reflect the Apollonian and Dionysian characteristics of Hamlet. I will use the closing question to hear feedback from students about what they thought the key points of the lesson were and assess whether or not they attained the instructional objectives. Notes/Recommendations: I loved this lesson! The students were extremely engaged during the discussion and came up with lots of excellent examples of famous characters that really demonstrated they understood the concept. Thanks to the participation of my CT, this lesson also included a really interesting discussion of gender roles as they relate to the Apollonian/Dionysian duality, an idea that students were really excited to explore. The only problem was pacing; since the discussion went longer than the time I had allotted for it, I had to modify the activity I had planned and asked the groups to identify only one more example of each characteristic instead of two.