Sanity & Madness in A Streetcar Named Desire & Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Lesson 5
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ELA

Unit 10

10th Grade

Lesson 5 of 23

Objective


Formulate and share unique arguments about madness and sanity.

Support arguments with strong and thorough textual evidence in a Socratic seminar.

Readings and Materials


  • Video: “A Better Way to Talk about Love” by Mandy Len Catron 

  • Poem: “Much Madness is divinest Sense - (620)” by Emily Dickinson 

  • Excerpt: Jane Eyre Volume 3, Chapter 1 by Charlotte Brontë  — (from "My brother in the interval was dead" to "and go home to God!")

  • Article: “Literary Theory: "The Madwoman in the Attic" (1979)” by Susan Gubar and Sandra M. Gilbert 

  • Poem: “Landlady” by P.K. Page 

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Target Task


Discourse Questions

Consider Catron’s TED Talk "A better way to talk about love" and “Literary Theory: "The Madwoman in the Attic" (1979)” by Susan Gubar and Sandra M. Gilbert (The Narratologist). What are both texts suggesting about how our society defines, views, and reacts to madness? What about society’s definition, perception, and reaction to madness needs to be changed and why?

In the excerpt of Jane Eyre and P.K. Page’s "Landlady," we meet characters who are associated with madness. In what ways are these characters associated with madness and who or what is responsible for this association? How might Dickinson’s "Madness is divinest Sense" help us to answer this question? 

Key Thinking


Scaffolding Questions

For Question 1: 

  • How does society define madness? 
  • How does society perceive madness?
  • How does society react to madness?
  • Is society’s definition accurate?

For Question 2: 

  • To what extent are the characters themselves responsible for their association with madness? 
  • Do we feel sympathetic or apathetic about the characters’ association with madness?

Key Ideas

  • Both texts suggest that society frequently defines madness in relation to love, romantic relationships, and/or men. What we frequently do not see is madness being defined in terms of mental health, physical well being, emotional health, etc. As a result, discussions around madness need to be changed to include conversation around mental health and factors that contribute to unstable mental health and not just conversations around someone being labeled as "crazy." 
  • In this excerpt from Jane Eyre, we never get to hear from Bertha herself, rather we only get to hear Rochester’s perspective, narration, and thoughts about Bertha’s madness. This is odd and makes us question the extent to which he is responsible and/or Bertha is actually struggling with sanity. In "Landlady," the landlady’s isolation and loneliness contribute to obsessive compulsiveness, stalking, and decline in mental health. Dickinson might push us to consider the idea that neither of these characters/speakers are actually mad and that others are responsible for their association with madness. 

Homework


  • Gather all annotations and seminar prep from the four texts we have studied in preparation for tomorrow’s insight piece drafting. 
  • Read and annotate A Streetcar Named Desire, Scenes 1–3 by Lesson 7. 
    • Scene 1: What are your first impressions of Blanche’s character? 
    • Scene 2: What are your first impressions of Blanche and Stanley’s relationship? 
    • Scene 3: What are your impressions of Stanley’s actions in this scene?

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Standards


  • LO 1.4B — Synthesize ideas from multiple texts and explain how the texts may convey different perspectives on a common theme or idea.
  • LO 5.1A — Extend the conversation around an idea, topic, or text by formulating questions and recognizing the claims and perspectives of others.
  • LO 5.1B — Cite relevant evidence and evaluate the evidence presented by others.
  • SL.9-10.1 — Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9—10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

Supporting Standards

LO 2.2A
RI.9-10.1
RI.9-10.2
W.9-10.1

Next

Craft an insight piece about your selected research topic, placing the ideas found in various sources and their authors in conversation with one another.

Lesson 6
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