| Day 2:
Class Activities: Literature and Fine Arts
Study
- Separate the class into groups of four to five
students and have students share one of their quotes
with the other group members. After a short discussion,
each group should choose one quote that reflects the
previous day’s lesson.
- Return to whole-class setting and have each group
present its selected quote.
- The class will then determine which quotes most
accurately reflect the role of women in the past and
the role of women today.
- Distribute the (very) short story, “Story
of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. This story can also
be read for homework.
Story can be found at:
http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/hour/.
- Ask students to answer the following questions:
- What evidence can you find in the setting of
the story that Mrs. Mallard feels more than just
grief?
- What lines suggest Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts
on her future?
- Discuss the irony in the last line.
- How women are portrayed in art and literature reflects
their roles and status in society. Go to: http://womenshistory.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=
womenshistory&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Flibrary%2
Fmagazine%2Fmillennium%2Fm2%2Fcotter.html. (If
an online connection is not available during the class,
print the article and pairs of artwork for discussion.)
If time permits, first read the article, “Through
Women’s Eyes, Finally.” Then view the
slide show. Ask students the following: What can you
observe in each piece of art that reflects the changing
perceptions of women’s roles by both the artists
and society?
- Discuss the way in which art (literature, music,
film and video, poetry, dance, and visual art) reflects
emotional experiences, while documents reflect historical
and legal experiences.
Application:
Recently, two women of importance, Coretta Scott King
and Betty Friedan, passed away. Choose either woman and
show how she made a lasting contribution to women's rights.
Extension Activities:
- Essay: Defend your position that American women
have or have not gained equality over the years.
- Research paper: Choose one woman and show how she
has made an impact in her own way on women’s
rights.
- Read a novel that reflects the struggles and triumphs
of women.
Optional Readings:
Kate Chopin, The Awakening. (novel)
Kate Chopin, “A Pair of Silk Stockings.”
(short story)
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper.”
(short story)
Marge Piercy, “A Work of Artifice.” (poem)
Adrienne Rich, “Women.” (poem)
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