"Pyramus and Thisbe" is a tragic love story in which two lovers are separated by forces seemingly beyond their control. This lesson guides students through an analysis of the story elements and how they function together to create a theme. A plot diagram helps students to analyze this classic story after the teacher models analysis using the familiar children’s story, Cinderella. Students will write a response analyzing how the plot elements and symbols develop the story's themes.
Students will be able to:
Part 1
Part 2
1. Distribute copies of a poem version of “Pyramus and Thisbe” (translated from Ovid's Latin). This version of the text may be challenging for some students.
2. Read aloud the first few lines of the poem so students can hear the archaic syntax and diction and become familiar with how it sounds. Based on students’ needs, read aloud as much as you feel necessary.
3. Have students use three different colored highlighters to highlight symbols, conflict, and plot elements while you read either part or all of the text aloud.
4. Have students compare and revise their highlighting (if necessary) and circulate to assist students as they work in partners. Display sample questions for students using available technology.
5. Then, ask students to complete the plot diagram with their shoulder partner using the text "Pyramus and Thisbe" in the same way you did with the class using Cinderella. Tell them they should refer back to that sample as well as the vocabulary they reviewed during the teaching phase.
6. Circulate while teams complete the plot diagram. Prompt students to explain their answers while referring to the definitions. Clarify any misconceptions or misunderstandings in analysis/reading comprehension if you observe incorrect answers or hear errors in student conversations.
7. Use the attached answer key to guide students, but refrain from telling them the answers as they work. Allow them to grapple/debate the answers with their partners, helping them learn to analyze and talk through the possibilities/defend their points of view.
8. When most students have finished, project the plot diagram answer key on available technology, and allow students to correct any incorrect answers or elaborate on incomplete answers. Encourage discussion as to why certain answers are correct while others are not accurate.
Part 3
1. Prompt students to identify and explain the themes of the myth based upon their answers on the plot diagram. List their suggestions on the board. After six or seven possibilities are generated, debate each one and determine how they might combine them to write a clear statement of the theme. Possibilities include: "True love conquers all"; "True love cannot be thwarted"; "It is futile to interfere with true love".
2. Discuss the dramatic irony in the myth. Students should be able to recognize that the audience knows that the lioness did not kill Thisbe, although Pyramus kills himself thinking she is dead.
3. Collect the graphic organizers and correct any incorrect answers in advance of the summative assessment.
Part 3 continued
4. Students will write an explanation how either the symbols and the plot elements (see summative assessment section for prompt) develop the themes generated by the class during the Guided Practice activities.
The grade level was changed to 9th grade due to the connection between "Pyramus and Thisbe" and Romeo & Juliet as well as focus on development of universal themes and how key elements add layers of meaning.
For multi-day/part lessons, the focus and supporting benchmarks may change for each part depending on the task students are engaged in and the content covered.
This lesson can serve as an introduction to a unit on Romeo and Juliet.
Name | Description |
ELA.9.R.1.1: | Explain how key elements enhance or add layers of meaning and/or style in a literary text. Clarifications: Clarification 1: Key elements of a literary text are setting, plot, characterization, conflict, point of view, theme, and tone. Clarification 2: For layers of meaning, any methodology or model may be used as long as students understand that text may have multiple layers and that authors use techniques to achieve those layers. A very workable model for looking at layers of meaning is that of I.A. Richards: Layer 1) the literal level, what the words actually mean Layer 2) mood, those feelings that are evoked in the reader Layer 3) tone, the author’s attitude Layer 4) author’s purpose (interpretation of author’s purpose as it is often inferred) Clarification 3: Style is the way in which the writer uses techniques for effect. It is distinct from meaning but can be used to make the author’s message more effective. The components of style are diction, syntax, grammar, and use of figurative language. Style helps to create the author’s voice. |
ELA.9.R.1.2: | Analyze universal themes and their development throughout a literary text. Clarifications: Clarification 1: A universal theme is an idea that applies to anyone, anywhere, regardless of cultural differences. Examples include but are not limited to an individual’s or a community’s confrontation with nature; an individual’s struggle toward understanding, awareness, and/or spiritual enlightenment; the tension between the ideal and the real; the conflict between human beings and advancements in technology/science; the impact of the past on the present; the inevitability of fate; the struggle for equality; and the loss of innocence. |
Name | Description |
ELA.9.V.1.1: | Integrate academic vocabulary appropriate to grade level in speaking and writing. Clarifications: Clarification 1: To integrate vocabulary, students will apply the vocabulary they have learned to authentic speaking and writing tasks independently. This use should be intentional, beyond responding to a prompt to use a word in a sentence. Clarification 2: Academic vocabulary appropriate to grade level refers to words that are likely to appear across subject areas for the current grade level and beyond, vital to comprehension, critical for academic discussions and writing, and usually require explicit instruction. |