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Lesson 4

As we begin to prepare for the Section Diagnostic, we will closely read and write to solidify our understanding of some of the text’s conflicts and themes.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I use text evidence and original commentary to support an interpretive response about Antigone?

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

  • Can I analyze how thematic ideas are developed through characterization and plot in Antigone?

  • Can I analyze the function of dramatic conventions, such as choral odes?

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

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss

We will work in groups to discuss our responses to the guiding questions from the choral ode in lines 656–704.

In a small group, discuss your text annotations for the choral ode Lines 656-704 and responses to the questions from the homework:

  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 thematic ideas are 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 as presented in this ode?

Activity 2: Read – Write

We will independently read the first section of Creon’s scene with his son, Haemon, and create notes for this new character.

Step 1

Independently read and annotate Antigone from “We’ll soon know" to "You both are talking sense" (Lines 705-812).

Use the following questions to guide your reading and annotate your text when you find support for responses to the questions:

  1. Read the quote from Haemon: “Father, I’m your son...you in your wisdom set my bearings for me—I obey you.” What attitude does this reflect?

  2. How does Creon describe “good sons”?

  3. How does Creon blend his criticism of Antigone with a description of a good ruler and strong state?

  4. Haemon says “But it’s for me to catch the murmurs in the dark.” According to Haemon, what role does he play that allows him to understand Thebes differently than Creon? How does Haemon’s news present a shift in his argument?

  5. How does Haemon use Aristotle’s rhetorical appeals (pathos, ethos, logos) when talking to Creon?

  6. How does Haemon use metaphors to make a point?

  7. How does he include gender in his argument?

  8. Does Haemon reveal anything about his feelings for Antigone in this scene?

  9. How does the Leader participate in the exchange between Haemon and Creon? Who does he seem to support?

Record new or interesting words in your Vocabulary Journal.

Step 2

Review your annotations to help you complete the Character Argument Note-Taking Tool for this section to identify Haemon’s claims, as well as counterclaims made against his arguments, so you can understand his perspective and position. Use the following guiding question:

  1. Who is Haemon defending—Antigone or Creon?

Activity 3: Read – Write – Discuss

We will read and annotate a portion of a scholarly essay on Antigone.

Step 1

Read and annotate the section "Themes" from the Excerpted Handout of "The Story of Antigone: A Play, a Text, a Myth for All Times" by Dr. Evelyne Ender. In your Learning Log, note any information that adds to your understanding of the background of the play or the characters.

Use the following questions to guide your reading:

  1. How are power and authority explained in these paragraphs?

  2. How does Ender extend the topic of gender beyond the text of Antigone itself?

  3. What is the definition of the word internecine in the sixth paragraph of the excerpt?

  4. Why does Ender claim that it is important to understand the word internecine?

  5. What thematic ideas does this excerpt help you better understand? In what ways has this excerpt changed or shaped your thinking about the themes in the play?

Step 2

Discuss your responses to the guiding questions with a partner.

Activity 4: Listen – Read – Write

We will form an evidence-based claim about either Creon or Antigone.

Step 1

Using the Forming Evidence-Based Claims Tool respond to one of the following guiding questions:

  1. What makes Antigone’s beliefs problematic?

  2. What makes Creon’s beliefs problematic?

Use the tool in the following way:

  1. Write down the guiding question in the space provided at the top. This question can help you focus your reading, or it might give your reading a specific purpose. It is likely to be a question that asks you to draw a conclusion that is factual, analytical, comparative, or evaluative in nature.

  2. As you read the text, pay attention to details that relate to the guiding question. Depending on how long the section of text is, you might find several examples. You can use the Attend to Details row to write down the details that most strongly relate to the guiding question. This helps you narrow down the most supportable or most relevant details that connect to the question. Do not forget to include paragraph numbers. You might have to come back later to get exact quotes or more clarity.

  3. In the Analyze the Details row, show your thinking. Doing so can help you ensure there is a clear connection among the details you identified, your analysis, and the guiding question.

  4. In the third row, "Explain Connections," show your thinking about how the details connect to each other. Do the facts and information, taken together, lead to a conclusion? Are they details from a narrative that help you analyze a character? Are they indicators of an author’s perspective that you intend to support or refute?

  5. In the final row, form and express a claim. Look back over the tool and consider the guiding question, the details, and how they connect to each other. The conclusion you have drawn based on your analysis of the details in the previous rows should become your claim. Communicate that claim in a clear, direct sentence.

Step 2

Once you have generated an evidence-based claim, you can use the tool to explain its derivation and support to others. To do this, begin at the bottom of the tool and work upward: present the claim, explain the analysis and evidence that led to it, and cite the key details that support it.

Step 3

To review and revise your claim, read it and ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Is the claim clearly stated?

  2. Does the claim communicate your opinion or conclusion about your character?

  3. Is the claim based on evidence that you gathered from the text?

  4. Is the claim supported by evidence?

If you answered "no" to any of the questions, think about how you might revise your claim.

Activity 5: Read – Write

For homework, we will review key points about the character of Antigone to prepare for our responses to the Section Diagnostic.

For homework, review your Antigone annotations, responses to the Section 1 and Section 2 Question Set, your Learning Log notes, the Vocabulary Journal, and the Rhetorical Appeals Handout as you compile information to respond to the following questions:

  1. How has Antigone been shaped by her environment, her family, and her societal position?

  2. Why is burial important in ancient Greece?

    1. Who benefits from the burial?

    2. Who conducts the burial?

    3. What are the repercussions of not being buried?

  3. How does Antigone use rhetoric and claims to appeal to other characters?