This unit relies heavily on the availability of video equipment. These days it is readily available. At this point spend the time to show the Lerner and Loewe musical. If time is a problem, or attention spans short, the teacher can do this in 1/2 hour segments over a weeks’ time. What is important here is that the students
know who the characters are
and what the
story says
at least in terms of time and events.
When this is complete a lesson similar to the one used when Pinocchio was introduced is useful. The question this time is: How is
My Fair Lady
like Pinocchio or like the myth of Pgymalion and Galatea? This concept may be the most difficult leap of all, and the teacher may spend some time dealing with a sea of faces that resembles an oil painting. It may require old fashioned explanation. As Pygmalion “made” Galatea, and Gepetto “made” Pinocchio so too did Henry Higgins make Eliza.
Greek Myth
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Pinocchio
|
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My Fair Lady
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Crude Material
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Crude Material
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Crude Material
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(Clay)
|
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(wood)
|
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(lower class)
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Creator/teacher
|
Creator/teacher
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Creator/teacher
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became alive
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became alive
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became upper class
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Pgymalion loved
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Gepetto loved
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Higgins loved Eliza
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Galatea
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Pinocchio
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When the details are understood, the teacher can ask the ultimate question of this unit: “Why then, do you think Shaw called his play about an English Flower Girl Pygmalion?”