Pygmalion: unit 2
Essential Questions:
1. Discuss Shaw’s treatment of the social classes through his development of at least two minor characters in Pygmalion. Does Shaw seem to think more favorably of any particular class or classes?
2. To what extent is Pygmalion (and the Preface and Epilogue) about money? How do the economic issues and the human issues relate in this play?
3. Attack, defend or reconstruct the following statement: Mrs. Pearce and Mrs. Higgins are more important in developing Eliza’s social persona than Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering.
4. “You don’t think,” say Mrs. Pearce and Mrs. Higgins to Professor Higgins. What does Mrs. Pearce mean by this remark, and is her assessment of Henry’s character justified?
5. Discuss criticism of or commentary on social norms of morality in Pygmalion¸ considering “Middle-class Morality,” Eliza’s concern for her “character,” and Higgins’ lack of concern for others, or similar examples.
6. Compare the social transformations of Alfred P. and Eliza Doolitte.
7. Eliza’s comment that “now you’ve made a lady of me I’m not fit to sell anything else” suggests that the status of women in late 19th-century Britain is limited by social class, gender, and work-related social mores. How does Shaw acknowledge these relationships in his play and in his afterword?
8. Given the description of their futures in the Epilogue, which character has undergone a more complete social transformation—Eliza Dootlittle or Clara Eynsford-Hill? As you make your case, refer specifically to the future of each character in Shaw’s Afterword.
9. Discuss the role of language as a marker of both individual and social identity, as depicted in Pygmalion. Be sure to discuss at least three characters in your analysis.
10. Discuss the implications of the last line of the Epilogue: “Galatea never does quite like Pygmalion: his relation to her is too godlike to be altogether agreeable.” In what sense is Henry Higgins “too godlike” to become beloved by Eliza, as either romantic partner or intimate friend? What kind of relationship have they established?
11. Identify the themes in Pygmalion that relate to the title and discuss how characterization develops the themes. Why is the play entitled Pygmalion, rather than Galatea (or Eliza, for that matter)? How does Shaw’s choice of title reflect the themes in the play?
1. Discuss Shaw’s treatment of the social classes through his development of at least two minor characters in Pygmalion. Does Shaw seem to think more favorably of any particular class or classes?
2. To what extent is Pygmalion (and the Preface and Epilogue) about money? How do the economic issues and the human issues relate in this play?
3. Attack, defend or reconstruct the following statement: Mrs. Pearce and Mrs. Higgins are more important in developing Eliza’s social persona than Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering.
4. “You don’t think,” say Mrs. Pearce and Mrs. Higgins to Professor Higgins. What does Mrs. Pearce mean by this remark, and is her assessment of Henry’s character justified?
5. Discuss criticism of or commentary on social norms of morality in Pygmalion¸ considering “Middle-class Morality,” Eliza’s concern for her “character,” and Higgins’ lack of concern for others, or similar examples.
6. Compare the social transformations of Alfred P. and Eliza Doolitte.
7. Eliza’s comment that “now you’ve made a lady of me I’m not fit to sell anything else” suggests that the status of women in late 19th-century Britain is limited by social class, gender, and work-related social mores. How does Shaw acknowledge these relationships in his play and in his afterword?
8. Given the description of their futures in the Epilogue, which character has undergone a more complete social transformation—Eliza Dootlittle or Clara Eynsford-Hill? As you make your case, refer specifically to the future of each character in Shaw’s Afterword.
9. Discuss the role of language as a marker of both individual and social identity, as depicted in Pygmalion. Be sure to discuss at least three characters in your analysis.
10. Discuss the implications of the last line of the Epilogue: “Galatea never does quite like Pygmalion: his relation to her is too godlike to be altogether agreeable.” In what sense is Henry Higgins “too godlike” to become beloved by Eliza, as either romantic partner or intimate friend? What kind of relationship have they established?
11. Identify the themes in Pygmalion that relate to the title and discuss how characterization develops the themes. Why is the play entitled Pygmalion, rather than Galatea (or Eliza, for that matter)? How does Shaw’s choice of title reflect the themes in the play?
Monday, October 3rd
1. Drama Terms Quiz
2. Drama terms: dichotomy, folly, staging, blocking, aside,
Homework: Annotate: Pygmalion Prologue/Preface
Wednesday, October 5th
1. warm-up: Peanut Butter/Jelly
2. Drama Terms: Act, Scene, Casting, Playwright, Dramatist
4. Read Play: Pygmalion - Finish Act 1
Homework:
Friday, October 7th
1. Vocab: didactic, pedantic, dialectic, discourse, repudiation, conciliatory
2. Discuss George Bernard Shaw & Early 1900s British culture
3. Go over:
Homework:
1. Drama Terms Quiz
2. Drama terms: dichotomy, folly, staging, blocking, aside,
- Comedy Slideshow
- B) Adage: "The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side"
Homework: Annotate: Pygmalion Prologue/Preface
- Read your Independent Book
Wednesday, October 5th
1. warm-up: Peanut Butter/Jelly
2. Drama Terms: Act, Scene, Casting, Playwright, Dramatist
- parody, lampoon, satire:
- an imitative form of comedy that spoofs or mimics the structure or content of another artistic work.
- The Problem Play
- “Only in the problem play is there any real drama, because drama is no mere setting up of the camera to nature: it is the presentation in parable of the conflict between Man’s will and his environment: in a word, of problem.”
--G. B. Shaw - The Problem Play: A Definition
- The problem play is a type of drama that developed in the 19th century to deal with controversial social issues in a realistic manner, to expose social ills, and to stimulate thought and discussion on the part of the audience. The genre had its beginnings in the work of the French dramatists Alexandre Dumas fils and Émile Augier, who adapted the then-popular formula of Eugène Scribe's “well-made play” (q.v.) to serious subjects, creating somewhat simplistic, didactic thesis plays on subjects such as prostitution, business ethics, illegitimacy, and female emancipation. The problem play reached its maturity in the works of the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, whose works had artistic merit as well as topical relevance. His first experiment in the genre was Love's Comedy (published 1862), a critical study of contemporary marriage. He went on to expose the hypocrisy, greed, and hidden corruption of his society in a number of masterly plays: A Doll's House portrays a woman's escape from her childish, subservient role as a bourgeois wife; Ghosts attacks the convention that even loveless and unhappy marriages are sacred; The Wild Duck shows the consequences of an egotistical idealism; An Enemy of the People reveals the expedient morality of respectable provincial townspeople.
- Ibsen's influence helped encourage the writing of problem plays throughout Europe. Other Scandinavian playwrights, among them August Strindberg, discussed sexual roles and the emancipation of women from both liberal and conservative viewpoints. Eugène Brieux attacked the French judicial system in The Red Robe. In England, George Bernard Shaw brought the problem play to its intellectual peak, both with his plays and with their long and witty prefaces.
- “Only in the problem play is there any real drama, because drama is no mere setting up of the camera to nature: it is the presentation in parable of the conflict between Man’s will and his environment: in a word, of problem.”
4. Read Play: Pygmalion - Finish Act 1
Homework:
- Research: 1 page of Bullet Notes; Record Sources
- early 20th Century British Culture
- George Bernard Shaw
- Complete Act 1 Worksheet
Friday, October 7th
1. Vocab: didactic, pedantic, dialectic, discourse, repudiation, conciliatory
2. Discuss George Bernard Shaw & Early 1900s British culture
3. Go over:
- Lit terms Quiz
- Act 1 Worksheet
Homework:
- Annotate Pygmalion myth
- Complete Act 2 Worksheet
- Read your Independent Book & Work on 3-Chart
Monday, October 10th
1. Go over Lit Terms Quiz #2
2. Drama terms: antihero vs hero
3. journal: Characterization: Independent Book
4. Read Play: Pygmalion Act 2
5. Act 2 Worksheet
Homework:
- Read your Independent Book & Work on 3-Chart
Wednesday, October 12th
1. AP Multi-Choice Practice
2. Read Play: Pygmalion
- Act 2 (end at line 160)
- 3 Chart with 25 examples in each section
- Analytical & Critical Essay of your book
- How does your book teach bigger themes through the use of character? What literary devices do they employ to make the character development execute successful illustrations of the overall literary work as a whole?
Friday, October 14th
NO SCHOOL TODAY!
--> Read your independent book & work on your 3-Chart DUE: Friday, October 21st
- 3 Chart with 25 examples in each section
- Analytical & Critical Essay of your book
- How does your book teach bigger themes through the use of character? What literary devices do they employ to make the character development execute successful illustrations of the overall literary work as a whole?
Monday, October 17th
1. Pygmalion effect
2. journal: Pygmalion effect applications in real life
3. Read Play: Pygmalion
- Finish Act 2 (start at line 161)
- Read Act 3 (to line 120)
- Read your Independent Book
- 3 Chart with 25 examples in each section
- Analytical & Critical Essay of your book (3-4 pages, double-spaced, 12 pt font)
- How does your book teach bigger themes through the use of character? What literary devices do they employ to make the character development execute successful illustrations of the overall literary work as a whole?
Wednesday, October 19th
1. Lit terms: apologia, polysyndeton, asyndeton, allusion, epic
2. Allusion & Historical Context: 3. Read Play: Pygmalion
- Finish Act 3 (start at line 120)
- Read Act 4
Homework:
- Read your Independent Book
- 3 Chart with 25 examples in each section
- Analytical & Critical Essay of your book
- How does your book teach bigger themes through the use of character? What literary devices do they employ to make the character development execute successful illustrations of the overall literary work as a whole?
Friday, October 21st - END OF QUARTER 1 - INDEPENDENT BOOK DUE TODAY!
1. Drama terms: facade, motif, aphorism, maxim
2. journal: motifs of the play
3. Read Play: Pygmalion
- Finish Act 4
- Read Act 5
B) Choose and begin reading a new independent book & Begin 3-Chart
Monday, October 24th
1. lit terms: archetype, recognition, denouement, epilogue,
- character types: major vs minor; flat vs round; static vs dynamic, foil
- Finish Reading Act 5
- Act 5 worksheet
- Discuss Essential Questions
- themes, motifs, lit devices used & effects on audience
1) Read Sequel/Epilogue of Pygmalion for WED
2) Write a thesis for each of the AP prompts for in-class timed essay on WED
3) Final Pygmalion Essay due Monday: 3-4 pages double spaced, 12 pt font
Wednesday, October 26th
1) In-Class Pygmalion Essay Test: 2) Critical Approaches Mini-project in Groups
- Discuss Essay Prompts and Act 5 Questions
- Read: Assignment Guidelines
- Read: Critical Approaches & Choose Critical Approach
- Useful Websites: Critical Approaches
- Use: Rubric
B) Final Pygmalion Essay due Monday: 3-4 pages double spaced, 12 pt font
Friday, October 28th -
1) Pygmalion Wrap-up:
- Discuss essay questions
- Write 5 new discussion questions & Discuss
3) Read: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Homework: Final Pygmalion Essay due Monday: 3-4 pages double spaced, 12 pt font
Monday, October 31st - Final Pygmalion essay Due
Halloween: Round Robin Writing!! Spooky Stories...
Homework: 2 Pages of Research Notes on:
- Shakespeare
- Elizabethan England
- A Midsummer Night's Dream