Have students read for homework the
Man of La Mancha
. Have students read out loud in class
Romeo and Juliet
. Have the teacher read aloud the story of Job from the Bible, Old Testament, and selections from Viktor Frankl’s
Man’s Search
for Meaning
.
Game 1 Love & Loss
Word Bowl of Feelings:
unrequited
|
fate
|
feud
|
|
quest
|
loss
|
|
anger
|
love
|
|
frustration
|
romance
|
jealousy
|
idealism
|
envy
|
realism
|
hatred
|
suicide
|
conflict
|
tragedy
|
pride
|
morbid
|
sadness
|
Have students select from a bowl separate pieces of paper with one of these words written on them. Sentence starters—I am feeling angry when . . . will be used to start an informal discussion about feelings which permeate students and the play characters.
The value of this type of activity in terms of self-awareness, understanding of human behavior and motivation, analyzing life situations, examining personal values, alternative forms of action and goals, cannot be minimized.
Aristophanes said, “By words, the mind is excited and the spirit elated.”: It is as true today as it was when he said it in Athens 2,400 years ago.
Game 2 Trivial Pursuit, the Biography Edition
After the students have studied Cervantes, Shakespeare, Bernstein and others, put a list of facts about these people on index cards. To make the game more personal have each student write ten facts about himself. These thoughts can be further brought out in the word bowl discussions.
Who am I?
-
1. April 23rd marks both my birth and death dates.
-
2. I have been considered the greatest dramatist, poet, and wordsmith in history.
-
3. I wrote 37 plays in 25 years.
-
4. I was baptized and died in the English village of Stratford.
-
5. I died April 23, 1616.
-
____
or:
-
1. I was born in 1547.
-
2. I was a soldier wounded at the battle of Lepanto.
-
3. In 20 years I wrote 40 unsuccessful plays.
-
4. I was excommunicated in 1597 for “offenses against His Majesty’s most Catholic Church.”
-
5. I died in 1616.
-
6. I served three terms in prison on various charges.