Lesson 3

Lesson Goals

Texts

Core

• • Antigone, Sophocles (translated by Robert Fagles), Penguin Books, 1984

• • 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

• Excerpts from “The Story of Antigone: A Play, a Text, a Myth for All Times”

• Antigone: Character Argument Note-Taking Tool

• Antigone: Rhetorical Appeals Handout

• Vocabulary Journal

Reference Guides

• Annotating and Note-Taking Reference Guide

Question Sets

• Antigone: Section 2 Question Set

Editable Google Docs

• Antigone: Character Argument Note-Taking Tool

• Antigone: Section 2 Question Set

• Vocabulary Journal

Activity 1: Discuss – Listen – Read – Write

We will continue to read Antigone and examine the relationship between Antigone and Ismene as they face their king and uncle, Creon.

Step 1

Prior to reading the next section, listen to your teacher’s pronunciation of the following words and add them to your Vocabulary Journal:

• consecrating

• repels

Step 2

Read aloud and annotate Lines 596-655 in a trio, one person taking Creon’s lines, one taking Ismene’s lines, and one person taking Antigone’s lines.

As you read and annotate, keep in mind the following guiding questions:

1. How are the feelings of the two sisters for each other demonstrated in this scene?

2. Why is the "guilt" (Line 604) of the two sisters equal, according to Ismene?

3. How is Creon characterized in these lines?

4. We learn near Line 641 that Haemon and Antigone are engaged. What is the effect of waiting until this point in the play to reveal this?

5. Who tells us about the engagement, and why would this character do so?

6. How does the play become more complicated (if at all) if the relationship between Antigone and Haemon can be described as a "true…bond" (Line 643)?

7. How do the characters’ interaction develop the thematic ideas of family, pride, and religious law in this section?

Step 3

As a trio, discuss the responses to the guiding questions. Take notes about the responses and conclusions discussed in your Learning Log.

Step 4

Update your Character Argument Note-Taking Tool with any new arguments, claims, or counterclaims that were presented in this section. Use a new tool if necessary. Be sure that you have information that will allow you to arrive at a conclusion regarding the characters’ perspective and positions. Add any new or interesting words you encounter to your Vocabulary Journal from Lines 596-655.

Activity 2: Read – Discuss – Listen

We will examine mentor sentences from Antigone to identify and understand the use of the rhetorical appeals of logos, ethos, and pathos.

Step 1

In your Vocabulary Journal add the terms pathos, logos,and ethos.

Reread Line 617 from Antigone:

"What do I care for life, cut off from you?"

This line spoken by Ismene is an example of the use of pathos. Pathos is a rhetorical appeal that Greek philosopher Aristotle identified as one of three strategies used in persuasion. Pathos is intended to appeal to the emotions. In this case, Ismene is using her emotional tie to her sister to convince Antigone to see reason.

The two other rhetorical appeals that Aristotle identified are logos, an appeal to logic or reason, and ethos, an appeal to morality or shared values.

Step 2

Ethos

The doom reserved for enemies / marches on the ones we love the most. (Lines 12-13)

Here, Antigone appeals to Ismene’s sense of what is right and wrong concerning the traditional burial of their brother.

Logos

[T]hink what a death we’ll die, the worst of all / if we violate the laws and override the fixed decree of the throne. (Lines 71-73)

In these lines, Ismene uses logic—what will happen to them if they bury Polynices—to appeal to Antigone’s sense of self-preservation.

Step 3

Access the Rhetorical Appeals Handout. Closely reread the quotations from Antigone below; refer to the text for context as necessary.

With a partner, discuss the following questions for each quote from Antigone:

1. Which type of rhetorical appeal is being used: pathos, logos, or ethos?

2. Who is the character attempting to persuade using the rhetorical device? What are they attempting to persuade them to do?

3. What effect does the device have on the reader’s understanding of the characters and plot?

Record your answers in your Learning Log.

Activity 3: Discuss – Listen – Read – Write

We will read sections from Dr. Evelyn Ender’s essay, “The Story of Antigone: A Play, a Text, a Myth for All Times.” Then, we will write about the ideas of gender at work in the play and revise our writing based on feedback.

Step 1

Read the Gender section from Excerpted Handout of "The Story of Antigone: A Play, a Text, a Myth for All Times."

In your Learning Log, complete a quick-write that answers the following question. Be sure to use text evidence from the play and the essay excerpt to support your ideas.

1. How do fixed ideas about gender affect the behavior of Creon, Ismene, and Antigone?

Step 2

Share your quick-write with a partner. Revise your quick-write based on feedback from your partner.

Activity 4: Read – Write

For homework, we will read and annotate the choral ode from lines 656–704.

For homework, read and annotate the choral ode from Lines 656-704 of Antigone.

In this section, the Chorus refers to "a house" (Line 658). This is the house of Cadmus, the ancestors of Oedipus.

Use the following questions to guide your reading and annotation and answer them in your Learning Log:

1. How does this choral ode fit in with the preceding section?

2. What new information does the ode provide?

3. One dramatic function of a choral ode is to establish and emphasize meaningful themes. What theme is prominent in this ode? What evidence from the text supports your response?

4. A second dramatic function of a choral ode is to present the feelings and points of view of the average citizen, including their fears, hopes, judgments, and thoughts. Given this function, what can you say about the average citizen’s perspective and feelings about the events presented in this ode?

Record in your Vocabulary Journal new or interesting words you encounter.