This group of students is quite different from the AP students and it includes students who have special needs, have difficulty with reading comprehension, and have weak motivation. Gender is also a topic that can raise conflicting positions because some students tend to be very literal and identify the societal construct of gender with biological gender. Some also have no notion of the related differences and implications, and other students may be biased against a liberal construction of gender identity.
Pedagogically, the teacher has to lead students to reading comprehension and critical thinking through visuals, appropriate pre-reading activities, and a series of simple, deductive questions
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. This strategy will give students the opportunity to share their initial understanding in a free and safe environment, but it will also help them understand the differences between gender and biological sex and overcome their original bias.
Students begin the unit with a class discussion of the unit theme: gender. The teacher will write the words “gender” and “sex” on the board and will prompt students to write their own definition of these two words. They will share and discuss all the differences while the teacher annotates the students’ definitions on the board. They will also be prompted to think and write what they expect from a man and from a woman. They can be prompted to consider what colors, clothes, and shoes a man and a woman should feel free to choose, but they also have to explain the reasons of their choices. Students can also consider what jobs are or are not appropriate and the reasons for these categorizations. This activity will generate interest but it will also help all students reflect on gender as societal construct. Before concluding this initial activity, students will have to look up the definition of gender and sex. If possible, the teacher can suggest to search the OED website, so that students can also see if the meaning of the two words has changed in the course of the time or has never changed. The teacher will then ask them to answer the following questions:
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What are the societal expectations for a man?
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What are the societal expectations for a woman?
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Can you suggest the reason or reasons for these societal expectations?
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Do these societal expectations for gender reflect your vision of masculinity and femininity? Explain.
Students write their reflections and support them with specific references to the class discussion, their initial definition, and/or the OED definition.
Students will then work in groups and prepare five to eight questions for an interview on how gender and sex are interpreted. (The students may use the questions modeled in class.) They have to interview a peer, an adult, and a teacher. In class, they will share the responses, discuss, and write a brief reflection. This activity will teach students how to phrase open-ended questions but it will also give them the opportunity to be exposed to a variety of interpretation of the thematic idea before drawing their own conclusion of what gender means. This group, in particular, tends to be very literal in their understanding of subtle concepts and they need all these supporting activities
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After this initial activity, the students will read the tragedy of
Macbeth
. Since the students in this group have different learning levels and skills, the teacher might choose to use different texts to maintain the interest and motivation in every one. Some can use a simplified English version or a graphic rendition of the text (students can use an unabridged one or a simplified version – the simplified text is appropriate for struggling readers). When students know the plot, the teacher will begin analyzing some specific scenes. The goal is to teach analysis and improve students’ critical thinking. Students will analyze and discuss the gender identity of the witches, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Malcolm. They will also discuss how gender identity may or may not influence Macbeth in his decisions.
The Witches
The students will analyze the witches in Act 1, Scene 1, Act 1, scene 3, and Act 3, Scene 5. These three scenes can be discussed separately or together to determine what the three witches attempt to teach Macbeth, what he needs to learn or fails to learn. The teacher will reread the specific scenes in class before prompting them with the following questions (depending on the specific learning needs of this group the teacher will lead the conversation with simple to more complex questions):
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Who are the witches? What are your initial thoughts?
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Are these human beings? If they are, what makes them human? If they are not, what do they represent?
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What do you think their gender is? According to our previous discussion of gender and how society views gender, what do the witches represent? Masculinity or femininity? Explain your choice.
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What knowledge do the witches share with Macbeth? Does it make a difference? If it does, how and what does it tell you about Macbeth’s masculinity? Explain.
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Does Macbeth need to learn anything? If he needs knowledge or emotional strength, does this need identify him as less masculine? Explain.
The students will then discuss whether Macbeth needs to “learn” from the witches – their knowledge - and whether the lack of this knowledge makes him less masculine. The students will also discuss whether knowledge gives power to Macbeth and if it does, they will discuss whether power means being masculine. The scene will conclude with a written reflection on whether Shakespeare’s views on what to expect from a man or a woman can be extrapolated from the play.
Before concluding the analysis of this scene, the teacher will ask students to research what sixteenth century witches represented and how society viewed them. They have to research all possible practices connected to witchcraft like the voodoo practices. When they conclude their research, the students might create a more modern interpretation of the encounter between the witches and Macbeth. They will be urged to start by choosing what the witches represent. Do they represent power, or evil, or knowledge? Also, who might be a modern Macbeth? A politician? A simple husband?
Students conclude this scene with two or more pages of refections in response to this prompt:
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We have read, researched, and discussed the role and gender of the witches. You have also written your modern version of this scene and we have also discussed at the beginning of the unit about the societal expectations for a man and for a woman. Reread all your notes, Act 1, Scene 1, Act 1, scene 3, and Act 3, Scene 5, and the responses of the person you have interviewed. Also, consider why Shakespeare has introduced the witches. What did he want to prove or say about masculinity and femininity? What gender has more power over the other one? Does Shakespeare challenge the patriarchal concepts of gender? If he does, explain why and how.
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
Due to the particular composition of this group of students, the approach to the analysis of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is completely different in order to maintain interest and motivation. In class the teacher will divide students in groups. Each group will use the written text (struggling students use the simplified text) and the illustrated one.
The teacher will first select some scenes from various acts and the students have to choose the one they want to focus on: Act 1, scene 5 (Lady Macbeth read the letter she has just received from Macbeth), Act 1, Scene 6 (dialogue between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth immediately after his first promotion), Act 1, Scene 7 (Lady Macbeth mocks Macbeth’s fears), Act 2, Scene 1 (Macbeth reflects on the vision of the dagger), Act 3, Scene (Macbeth’s remorse for his murderous actions appears as Banquo’s ghost), Act 5, Scene 5 (Macbeth’s reaction after his wife’s suicide). Students’ first activity is to reread the scene that they have chosen, clarify all possible misunderstanding before writing the modern version. The idea to give them choice is very important to maintain interest and motivation and it is strongly recommended by pedagogy
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At this point, the teacher will ask them to take into consideration the meaning of gender as societal construct and find modern characters for the Shakespearean Macbeth and Lady Macbeth– Macbeth can be a present leader, even a political leader and his wife, but they can also choose a very simple couple; age is not important as well as education or financial status. The students will create four scenes:
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A dialogue between wife and husband about a promotion he has just received.
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A dialogue always between wife and husband in which she expects and fantasizes about an even higher promotion for her husband.
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The husband monologue(s) in which he expresses his fears, hesitation, and insecurity. In the same monologue(s), the husband conveys his deep ambition for more success.
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A dialogue between husband and wife in which she mocks him for his fears and indecision and pushes him to do something that makes him very uncomfortable.
When they have finished writing, they will share and possibly act out the scenes they have prepared and since we are in an arts school and many students are quite talented actors, actresses, and videographer, they can also choose to produce a short film of the scene they have written. They will first share and discuss their choices and the content of their dialogue. Before comparing the modern version to the Shakespearean ones, they will write a brief reflection on how they think gender expectations play or do not play a role in the life of the couple. Essentially, they have to reflect whether couples may display problems due to the subconscious concept of gender as societal construct. They have to discuss whether their modern versions of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth convey authority and power as masculinity or whether they convey fear and insecurity as feminine and therefore inferior.
Students’ next activity will be to compare and contrast the Shakespearean scene that they have chosen to analyze and their own, discussing the differences and similarities in their group and then writing their conclusions. For this final task, the teacher suggests the following prompts:
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What are the main differences that you notice between expectations of female and male conduct?
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Is there a Shakespearean idea of masculinity and femininity or can one only speak of particular characters challenging or accepting societal constructs? Explain.
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Does Lady Macbeth or your modern version represent a threat to the man? How? Why?
Malcolm
Because Malcolm’s ascention to the throne represents a return to peace and normalcy, the play invites us to ask whether Malcolm’s idea of masculinity is also a representation of normalcy. Students may want to further analyze and discuss this male figure (Act 4, Scene 3) in comparison to Macbeth and even Duncan. The teacher suggests some leading questions like:
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How would you define Malcolm’s response to Macduff’s suggestion to attack Macbeth?
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Do you think that Macduff is testing Malcolm? If he is, is he testing him from an unambiguous standpoint? Explain and support your answer with specific textual references.
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Compare Malcolm’s fear, hesitation, or ambiguity to Macbeth’s fears. What is similar or different and why?
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How does Shakespeare present masculinity or male identity in Malcolm?
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What is different from your belief of masculinity?
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How is Shakespeare challenging gender identity?
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Discuss Malcolm’s belief about becoming king (Act 4, Scene 3, lines 91-99) and connect to masculinity or femininity.
Before concluding this part with this group of students, the teacher will encourage them to research three to four sources about societal interpretations or definitions of masculinity and femininity. They should take into consideration how the Elizabethan society viewed a man and a woman. They can also use another fictional text and any other non-fictional text (essay, op-ed, editorial) on the same topic before writing their final work.
