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Lesson 1

We will begin reading Section 2 of Antigone and study the interaction between Antigone and Creon while exploring a variety of thematic ideas including power, gender roles, and loyalty.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I use resources to clarify and validate understanding of the precise and appropriate meaning of discipline-based vocabulary in Antigone?

  • Can I analyze context to distinguish among denotative and connotative meanings of words in Antigone?

  • Can I synthesize information from Antigone and “The Story of Antigone: A Play, a Text, a Myth for All Times” to create new understanding?

  • Can I analyze how Sophocles develops complex yet believable characters through cultural settings and events?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • Antigone, Sophocles (translated by Robert Fagles), Penguin Books, 1984
  • Multimedia
    • Excerpts from “The Story of Antigone: A Play, a Text, a Myth for All Times,” Dr. Evelyne Ender and Dr. David Steiner, Odell Education, 2020

Materials

Tools

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read

We will review the section 2 diagnostic checklist in order to be prepared to respond at the end of this section of the play.

In Section 1 of Antigone, you explored why Creon mandates that the body of Polynices not be honored or buried.

Review the Section 2 Diagnostic Checklist. At the end of this section of the play, you will be asked to write a response to the following prompt:

Analyze Antigone’s argument about burying Polynices’s body. Write a well-developed response explaining the following:

  • Antigone’s perspective, position, and major claims and the evidence she uses to support them.

  • How Antigone responds to counterclaims posed by others.

  • Which thematic ideas are most important to Antigone’s argument and why.

In your response, be sure to do the following:

  • Support your analysis with relevant evidence from the play, using proper citations.

  • Refer to thematic ideas that relate to Antigone’s argument.

  • Use content and academic words from your Vocabulary Journal where appropriate.

  • Use appropriate syntax, grammar, and mechanics.

Activity 2: Discuss – Read – Write

We will begin section 2 of the play and learn more about Antigone. We will closely read lines to look at the craft and meaning behind them.

Step 1

As you read and listen to Lines 417-450, think about what you know about Antigone and her family, the justification for Creon’s laws, and ancient Greek gender roles.

After the lines have been read aloud or silently, work with a partner to discuss the following question:

  1. The Chorus wonders if they are taking "wretched" Antigone in for "some act of mad defiance." What is the chorus suggesting about Antigone?

Step 2

Closely read Lines 469-479 to respond to the following questions in your Learning Log:

  1. Why would Antigone be compared to "a bird come back to an empty nest, peering into its bed, and all the babies gone"? What is the impact of this simile?

  2. What does the storm add to the plot? Use textual evidence to support your response.

  3. The Sentry uses the phrase "rushed her, closed on the kill like hunters." What does this description add to the idea of gender roles and power? How does this affect your thinking and feeling about Antigone? How does the author’s use of this diction and syntax contribute to the tone of the scene?

Step 3

Read Lines 480-489 and conduct a think-pair-share with a partner.

Consider the following questions:

  1. How does the Sentry feel about Antigone? Which lines help you understand this?

  2. What other offenses do you suppose they charged her with?

  3. What information do the stage directions provide the reader? How do they deepen your understanding about plot and character?

  4. How are you envisioning what is happening on the stage during this part?

Step 4

After you discuss with a partner, work with another partner and summarize what happens in Lines 417-489 of the play. Answer the following question with your partner:

  1. How would you describe or characterize Antigone thus far? How does the historical and cultural setting of ancient Greece impact your characterization of her? Consider the setting along with Antigone’s words and actions.

Activity 3: Read – Write

We will read excerpts of a scholarly essay to understand the role of the Sentry and Antigone.

Step 1

Read and annotate the Antigone section from the Excerpted Handout of "The Story of Antigone: A Play, a Text, a Myth for All Times." Use the guiding quick-write prompt below and your notes from Lines 417-489 to help you understand the text.

Step 2

Quick-Write

  1. How does this essay excerpt add to your understanding of the Sentry, Creon, and Antigone?

Keep your quick-write in your Learning Log for future reference.

Activity 4: Read – Discuss – Write

We will explore vocabulary from a segment of the play as well as an excerpt of a scholarly essay in order to define vocabulary.

Step 1

Revisit Lines 417-489 of the play as well as the Antigone section of Dr. Ender’s excerpted essay.

Working in your Vocabulary Journal and with a partner, add these words and phrases in order to make meaning of them. You might use a dictionary or digital tool, the context surrounding the words or phrases, or the connotative meanings of the words or phrases.

From Antigone:

  • wretched

  • defiance

  • last rites

  • jostling

  • baiting

  • peering

  • offenses

From the Antigone section of the Excerpted Handout of "The Story of Antigone: A Play, a Text, a Myth for All Times":

  • ethics

  • pantheon of literary heroes

  • heroine

  • antagonist

  • jeers

  • denounces

  • three-dimensional

  • flat silhouette

Step 2

Work with a partner or group to respond to the vocabulary exercises, as directed by your teacher.