Lesson 4: Analysis of Characters’ Actions in Greek Myths About this lesson Students engage in a discussion about “The Story of Prometheus” to demonstrate understanding of the text and write a thematic analysis paragraph. Additional Materials: A downloadable audio recording of “The Story of Prometheus” is available at http://ia600801.us.archive.org/8/items/oldgreekstories_1202_librivox/oldgreekstories_03_baldwin_64kb.mp3. Section I is minutes 0:00 to 6:50. Section II is minutes 6:50 to 14:10.

We reviewed the myths of Prometheus and Pandora and analyzed the author’s word choice by determining how it impacts the tone and meaning of the text. Let’s Review! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~1 minute Directions: Briefly review the previous learning.

Today we will: Engage in a class discussion to analyze the myths of Prometheus and Pandora. Let’s Prepare! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~1 minute Directions: Read the slide. Briefly explain how this lesson prepares students for another lesson and/or the end-of-unit assessments. Throughout the lesson, compare students’ responses and work to the student look-fors. Determine the students who need additional support with reading, understanding, or expressing their understanding of complex, grade-level texts. During this lesson or before the next lesson, support those students individually or in a small group using the Additional Supports for Diverse Learners.

The discussion questions handout You will need: Sections I and II of “The Story of Prometheus” from Old Greek Stories by James Baldwin The discussion questions handout Your reading log Let’s Prepare! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~ 5 minutes Directions: Distribute the text. Access and distribute the discussion questions handout. Ask students to locate their reading log.

Read the discussion questions and answer them with your partner while taking notes. Review both sections of the text to locate evidence to support your answers. Mark the evidence to support each discussion question on your copy of the text. Let’s Practice! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~ 13 minutes Directions Divide the class into pairs using an established classroom routine. Purposefully pair together students with different levels of language proficiency. Establish norms for the group work and explain that students will be held accountable for their learning by writing answers to the discussion questions and marking supporting evidence on their copy of the text. Direct pairs to read the discussion questions and then answer them in writing using evidence from the “The Story of Prometheus.” As students work together to answer the discussion questions, prompt them to refer to their handouts and notes from previous lessons and use the conversation stems learning tool. Possible Supports During the Lesson: As needed, display or project the evidence sentence starters learning tool and model how to use in-text citations. For pairs with different levels of language proficiency, be sure that each student is held accountable for demonstrating their understanding. For example, direct partner A, who has lower language proficiency, to orally dictate their response to a question while partner B, who has higher language proficiency, writes the answer. Tell them to swap roles for another discussion question. As students work in pairs, support students who need help understanding the text. Point out specific evidence from the completed discussion questions handout. Ask pairs to explain how that evidence supports one or more of the discussion questions. Ask students to rephrase key statements from the text based on where they seem to have gaps in their understanding. Student Look-Fors Access the completed discussion questions handout.

“‘It is best for [humans] to be poor and ignorant, so that we The gods are repeatedly referred to as the “Mighty Ones.” Are the gods truly “mighty”? Why or why not? “‘It is best for [humans] to be poor and ignorant, so that we Mighty Ones may thrive and be happy.’” Let’s Discuss! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~ 15 minutes Directions: Establish norms for discussion and identify what you will be looking for during the discussion (e.g., use of the conversation stems, use of relevant evidence while discussing, etc.). Start the discussion by asking one of the discussion questions students responded to in pairs. Use teacher talk moves so students clearly express their ideas (Goal One), listen carefully to understand others’ ideas (Goal Two), provide evidence to support their claims (Goal Three), and establish new ways of thinking (Goal Four). Prompt students to use the conversation stems learning tool during the discussion. As the discussion progresses, ask the remaining discussion questions and continue to use teacher talk moves. Conclude the discussion by asking students to discuss the question on the slide: “The gods are repeatedly referred to as the ‘Mighty Ones.’ Are the gods truly mighty? Why or why not?” Possible Supports During the Lesson: As needed prior to the discussion, model how to use the conversation stems learning tool and/or identify specific stems students should use during the conversation. Student Look-Fors: Access the discussion tracker scoring tool. Adapt this, as needed, to focus on specific content or skills students need to practice. Access the completed discussion questions handout. Students should understand that Jupiter doesn’t want good things for humans and that he is really weak. He is only considered “mighty” because he keeps humans poor and ignorant. Jupiter fears the humans gaining fire because he knows once they have knowledge and health, he will no longer have power. Jupiter resorts to tricks (e.g., sending Pandora with a golden casket filled with fears and misery) to keep the humans from gaining knowledge.

Write a paragraph in response to these questions: What is a theme of “The Story of Prometheus”? How do Prometheus’ and Jupiter’s actions develop a theme of the text? EXIT TICKET Let’s Express Our Understanding! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~ 10 minutes Directions: Direct students to write a paragraph in their reading log in response to questions on the slide: “What is a theme of ‘The Story of Prometheus’?” and “How do Prometheus’ and Jupiter’s actions develop a theme of the text?” Provide a model of a strong response (the exemplar) and a weak response and discuss the qualities of each. As needed, direct students to finish writing their paragraph for homework. Collect students’ reading logs when they finish writing their paragraph. Possible Supports During the Lesson: As needed, display or project the evidence sentence starters learning tool and model how to use in-text citations. If students are not writing a paragraph similar to the Student Look-Fors: They may not be able to identify a theme of the text. Say: “A theme is comments the text makes about the main topics of the text. It is the understanding of the main topics that the reader gains from reading the text. What do you understand about knowledge, the gods, humans, and/or the way the world works from reading ‘The Story of Prometheus’? How do Jupiter’s actions and resulting consequences reveal the theme? How do Prometheus’ actions and resulting consequences reveal the theme?” Provide an answer frame for students to use as they write their paragraph. For example: A theme of “The Story of Prometheus” is ____. The actions of Prometheus develop this theme. In the text, ____. This builds the theme of ____ because ____. Jupiter’s actions also develop this theme. In the text, ____, which builds the theme because ____. Overall, the theme of ____ is developed through both Prometheus’ and Jupiter’s actions in the the text. Student Look-Fors: Students may identify multiple themes of “The Story of Prometheus”: Knowledge plays a role in bettering the human condition. Humans have a desire to explain the world and how it got that way. Power not earned can only be maintained through fear and oppression. Trying to gain access to that which is forbidden leads to negative consequences. Those who defy the gods will be punished. People should always try to help others no matter the obstacles. Always be sure to do what is right by others. Humans will never have more power than the gods. Being greedy leads to negative consequences. Exemplar response: A theme of “The Story of Prometheus” is that power not earned can only be maintained through fear and oppression. In the text, Jupiter refuses to allow Prometheus to give fire to the humans. Jupiter says, “if men had fire they might become strong and wise like ourselves, and after a while they would drive us out of our kingdom” (Baldwin 1). He is fearful that giving humans fire will mean that he would lose the power over the kingdom, so he keeps things from those under his control to maintain control and power over the humans. This isn’t real power. If Jupiter earned his power through respect, the humans wouldn’t try to take control. When Prometheus refuses to follow Jupiter’s order and gives fire to humans anyway, Jupiter responds by sending Pandora with a box that brings worry and fear into the humans’ minds. This continues to keep Jupiter in power, but he keeps power by forcing fear on those under his control.

In this lesson, you learned how Jupiter and Prometheus’ actions contribute to the meaning of the myths. You also engaged in academic conversations with peers and analyzed how a quotation from a text reveals an aspect of character. Let’s Close! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~1 minute Directions: Read this slide