Gender and Power in The Taming of the Shrew

Lesson 8
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ELA

Unit 5

9th Grade

Lesson 8 of 29

Objective


Analyze how language used about Katherine and Bianca reveals values and attitudes of the time period.

Readings and Materials


  • Play: The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare  — Act 1, Scene 1, lines 106–end

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Target Task


Discussion & Writing Prompt

What does the language the suitors use to talk about Katherine versus Bianca reveal about standards of desirability in Elizabethan times? Provide specific evidence from the text and carefully explain your thinking. 

Sample Response

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Key Thinking


Close Read Questions

What language does Lucentio use to describe his feelings for Bianca, and what does it reveal about his values and attitudes towards women and love? Provide specific examples from the text and carefully explain your thinking.

What language do the men—Lucentio, Tranio, Gremio and Hortensio—use to talk about Katherine? What does their language reveal about the values, attitudes, and traditions of the time period? Provide specific examples from the text and carefully explain your thinking.

Vocabulary


Literary Terms

iambic pentameter

a line of verse composed of ten syllables arranged in five metrical feet (iambs), each of which consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

blank verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter.

aside

brief comment or address to the audience that shows the character's unspoken thought, unheard by characters on stage (unless the stage directions indicate that the aside is directed to a character. The audience can see deeper into their motivations and experiences. Asides may also be used for characters to comment on the action as it unfolds.

Text-based

countenance

n.

appearance, manner

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Standards


  • RL.9-10.3 — Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
  • RL.9-10.4 — Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).

Supporting Standards

L.9-10.1
L.9-10.6
RL.9-10.1
RL.9-10.4
SL.9-10.1
SL.9-10.6
W.9-10.9

Next

Analyze two stage productions of Act 1, Scene 1, evaluating how each version interprets Shakespeare's text.

Lesson 9
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Lesson Map

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