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Lesson 2

We will complete our discussion of the end of the play and scholarly essay, watch an animated version of the play, and begin to dramatize or reenact portions of the play.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I engage in a dramatic reenactment of a self-selected scene by listening actively, responding appropriately, and adjusting communication to audiences and purposes?

  • Can I synthesize information from the play, an animated version of Antigone, and a scholarly essay to create new understanding?

  • Can I respond orally with appropriate register, vocabulary, tone, and voice as they perform in a reenactment of a self-selected scene?

  • Can I analyze the function of dramatic conventions by performing a dramatic reenactment of a self-selected scene?

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
  • Digital Access
    • “Antigone by Sophocles — Animated Play Summary,” Animated Books, Animated Books, 2017

Materials

Tools

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss – Read

We will discuss the end of the play and its outcomes with a partner or small group.

Step 1

For homework, you read the end of the play. Work in groups to discuss what happens at the end of the play. Answer the following questions:

  1. What happens to Haemon, Antigone, Eurydice, and Creon? Who is responsible for the outcome for each? Why? Use evidence from the text to support your claim.

  2. What word stands out to you as important in the Chorus’s final lines? What is the message to the reader from this word?

Step 2

With a partner or small group, share the tool you chose to complete for homework to analyze the rest of the play. Explain how the tool helped you understand the resolution and outcome for each of the characters. Listen closely as others in your group share.

Activity 2: View – Discuss

We will watch a short, animated version of the play Antigone.

Step 1

Watch the short, animated version of Antigone titled "Antigone by Sophocles - Animated Play Summary" by Animated Books.

Step 2

After you finish watching the video, compose a quick-write response to the one of the following questions and keep it in your Learning Log:

  1. How does the animated version of the play add or detract from reading and watching other clips?

  2. Does the animated version help you understand the play better? Why or why not?

Activity 3: Read – Write

We will complete our reading of a scholarly essay to see how it adds meaning to our understanding of the end of the play. We will also apply the Delineating Arguments Tool to the essay.

Step 1

Read the Learning from Experience section from the Excerpted Handout of "The Story of Antigone: A Play, a Text, a Myth for All Times." Use the guiding questions below to help you understand what the text says, means, and adds to your understanding of the overall play and ending of Antigone:

  1. After reading the scholarly essay and the end of the play, who is the tragic hero and what makes you think that? Cite at least two examples of text evidence to support your ideas.

  2. What is a key message for readers of Antigone from the essay excerpt?

  3. What does the essay add to the idea of consequences? For Antigone? For Creon? For Thebes in general?

  4. Do you agree or disagree with Dr. Ender when she claims that Antigone is a timeless text? Cite text evidence to support your response.

Step 2

Apply the Delineating Argument Tool to the Learning from Experience section of Ender’s essay. Think about the Central Question: To whom or what do we owe our loyalty? What is Ender’s claim, supporting evidence, and perspective?

Think back to earlier in the unit as well and the way you responded to the first question.

  1. How is Antigone right? How is Creon right? How are they both wrong?

  2. Would you respond any differently now that you have finished reading the play, read an outside essay, read a speech, and viewed numerous film clips? Why or why not?

Discuss with a partner and add additional response ideas in your Learning Log.

Activity 4: Discuss – Read – Write – View

We will reenact important and self-selected scenes for Antigone or act as audience members to view the performances of our peers.

In partners or small groups, you will present a dramatic reenactment of a self-selected scene from Antigone, or you will be an audience member watching the reenactments.

As an actor, consider the following questions as you choose your scene:

  1. Which scene or interaction is powerful and resonates with you?

  2. How do you want your audience to feel? How do you want to convey your message, emotions, and action in the scene?

  3. How would you compare your scene to the written version of the play?

  4. What simple props, costumes, or blocking can you add to make the scene come to life?

As an audience member, consider the guiding questions as you watch other reenactments:

  1. What makes the scene the group chose to reenact important?

  2. What tone did the actors establish? For example, were they serious or comic? To what extent did the tone reflect that of the scene?

  3. Did the group incorporate any movement or gestures to draw out details from the scene?

  4. Did the group omit any important exchanges or details from the scene?

  5. Did you feel any empathy, anger, or other emotions while the group portrayed the scene? What sparked the emotion?

After each performance, reflect in your Learning Log by responding to Questions 1 and 3 for the audience members.