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Essential questions
Is this play sexist or is it merely a product of its times?
Is a work like this relevant today?
Is the play universal?
Overview
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William Shakespeare
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"Kate
is less powerful, less wealthy, less cheerful, less in the playwright’s
confidence-less everything than Petruchio. When the conflict
with women is stressed but unequal, as it is here, we are surely
justified in leveling the charge of sexism." (Linda
Bamber, 1984)
I found that by focusing this unit on the very controversy
that might have prevented me from teaching the play I increased
the educational value of it for my students and myself. It
was interesting to read the play with a group of modern teenagers
while thinking about the idea of sexism, a source of righteous
indignation for them. The unit plan uses many techniques adapted
from the Folger Library, an invaluable resource in the teaching
of any of Shakespeare’s works to teenagers. It incorporates
lessons on teaching the plot and characters in addition to
several projects that allow the teacher to assess the level
of engagement with the essential questions. The culminating
performance project requires students to translate a scene
from the play into more modern times and in so doing check
that the themes and situations fit with modern audiences sensibilities.
Does this play translate across time?
Therefore is it sexist?
Or are we?
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