Comedy, Taming, and Desirability in The Taming of the Shrew

Lesson 5
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ELA

Unit 17

9th Grade

Lesson 5 of 20

Objective


Analyze how Gay uses contrasts and anecdotes to convey her complex perspective. 

Readings and Materials


  • Excerpt: Roxane Gay: ‘My body is a cage of my own making’ by Roxane Gay (Adapted and abridged from Hunger: A Memoir Of (My) Body published on 6 July by Corsair) 

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Target Task


Writing Prompt

Complete the following statement: The most important anecdote or contrast that reveals Gay’s complex perspective as an undesirable woman is…

Sample Response

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Key Thinking


Annotation Focus

What lines, words, and phrases reveal Gay’s complex perspective as an undesirable woman? 

Where in these lines, words, and phrases do you see interesting contrasts and anecdotes?

Scaffolding Questions

Who is the speaker? How does she describe herself physically? What is significant about her description? In other words, what does it reveal about her perspective? 

According to Gay, what event in her life led to her overheating? How does Gay describe this event and/or her memories of it? What does her description reveal about the impact this event has/had on her life?

Zoom in on the contrasts that Gay highlights in paragraphs 7–8. What ideas are being contrasted in paragraph 7? In paragraph 8? How do they contribute to Gay’s complex perspective? 

In paragraphs 9–11, Gay uses description to explain what it is like living in her body. What details in these paragraphs are the most telling of her experiences? What do these details specifically reveal about her experiences? 

In paragraph 12, Gay says, "My body is a cage of my own making. I have been trying to figure a way out of it for more than 20 years." What does she mean by this? In what ways are these lines indicative of her complex perspective throughout the piece? 

Zoom in on Gay’s description of her gym anecdote. How does she behave and act? How does the other woman behave and act? What do both of their behaviors reveal about desirability? About the impact of not being desirable on Gay? 

Discourse Questions

In paragraph 12, Gay says, "My body is a cage of my own making. I have been trying to figure a way out of it for more than 20 years." What does she mean by this? In what ways are these lines indicative of her complex perspective throughout the piece?

Homework


Read and annotate pages xix-xxvi in Taming of the Shrew through the lens of the following annotation focus. 

  • Annotation focus: 
    • What did you learn about Shakespeare’s words? 
    • What did you learn about Shakespeare’s sentences? 
    • What did you learn about Shakespeare’s wordplay? 

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Standards


  • RI.9-10.6 — Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.

Supporting Standards

LO 2.3A
LO 2.3B
LO 2.3C
LO 5.1A
LO 5.1B
RI.9-10.1
RI.9-10.2
RI.9-10.4
SL.9-10.1
W.9-10.2

Next

Analyze how Brady uses humor to develop her argument in "I Want a Wife."

Lesson 6
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