Unit Title: Patriarchy and Persuasion (or Medea, by Euripides)

The Medea unit is some of the most fun you can have at Fukiai; it is also incredibly good for the students. Its eyeopening; it proves to kids that a really old play can be directly relevant and even important to contemporary life. It
gets them to think critically about literature and society, and to express their opinions with force and passion. Medea is
about a dysfunctional marriage; its about lying, cheating, maternal/paternal rights, and infanticide. Its also about
sexism and immigration. More fundamentally, its about splitting human nature along gender lines that affect the order
of the cosmos. Its an incredibly rich play thats also easy to read in English, and it makes a good beginning to the second
term.

The Persuasive Essay

Due to the richness of the play, it is easy to differentiate tasks in the Medea unit. The main assignment, the persuasive
essay, is introduced at three separate levels:
1. Who is worse, Jason or Medea?
2. Who does the author think is worse?
3. Does the way gender is portrayed in Medea support or undermine patriarchy?
All students begin at level one, writing an answer to the first question at several different times throughout the term
and reflecting on how their opinions change throughout the play. Once the class finishes reading through the entire play,
they are invited to write a rough draft of an essay addressing the second level. Most of them choose to do so, but a few
will remain at level one and use that prompt for their essay instead. The third level comes at the very end of the term,
after the class stages a debate between the two main characters. When the debaters discover the temptation to defend
Medea by claiming she was not responsible for her actions, they start to wonder what Euripides is really saying about
who should and who should not bear responsibility in society at large. The last prompt is complicated, and only a few
higher level students will attempt it; those who try, however, will seriously sharpen their English expression and critical
thinking skills.

Be Prepared
Please note: This unit takes a little more preparation on the part of the instructor than the last one did. For Day Two, you
will likely need to visit the Daiso to buy masks, paper cups, and cheap snacks or candies (OK in SHS). None of this should
be very expensive in total about 1/10th the tax credit American teachers can claim for classroom costs, for comparison
but it will have to be out of pocket. The students will continue to use the masks for the entire first half of the unit
though; they are a good investment.
In addition to buying props, you will also want to brush up your knowledge of Euripides, Medea, and Greek theater. If
youre unfamiliar with all these, dont worry. The basics are clearly laid out on the Wikipedia pages for all three of them.
Nevertheless, its probably a good idea to read those pages and the play Medea itself before beginning this unit.
Unit Objectives. Students will:

Analyze a classical literary text for authorial bias

Debate a critical interpretation of a text
Write several drafts of a persuasive essay of at least 800 words
Assess each others writing for persuasiveness, organization, and effective use of evidence

Additionally, students will continue to practice timed writing (speedwriting) and complete free writing essays at home.

Daily Lesson Plans

Day One: Activating stereotypes
Materials needed: Blank Lined Paper (included in Day One and Day Four of Narrative Unit), Syllabus (not included; youll
need to make your own)
Speedwriting Prompt: What differences are there between male and female personalities?
Procedures:
Most likely, you will teach the first day of the second term as a combined class, so that students can have
another chance to decide whether they want to study with the OTE or with you. Review your syllabus which
should include a persuasive essay in at least two drafts, a revision letter, quizzes, at least one exam, and class
participation and pass out the paper for speedwriting.
Write the speedwriting prompt on the board. Add additional questions as needed (Why do these differences
exist? Or if you dont believe real differences exist between male and female personalities, why not? Why do
other people believe in them?), and give them as much time to write as the OTE can afford.
After they are finished writing, have them read their answers aloud to a partner. Once they are finished reading
them, make a T-chart (two columns) on the board, label it Men and Women, and call on students to help
you fill in differences.
Along the way, gently push back against their stereotypes. Accept everything they say and write it on the board;
nod and acknowledge, but question their assumptions. Have they never met an emotional man? Do they know
any women who make good leaders? &c.
Before class ends, tell them that the next class will be meeting in a different place, where you can wear masks
and eat food. You will let the home room teacher know what the classroom will be.

***Day Two: Medea Tea Party***

Materials needed: Copies of the abridged Medea script (four B4 pages each), copies of the Medea Timeline, copies of
the Notes on Medea and Greek Theater worksheet (copy to back of timeline), copies of Medea tea party roles (divide
evenly among students in groups of five (or four excluding Aegeus).
Additional Materials needed: Four or five different types of masks from the Daiso (one each per student in your larger
class), snacks, cups, napkins &c. (NOTE: High school kids can have candy!)
Procedures:
This is a really big day perhaps the biggest one in EE. The name of the key activity is the literary tea party,
though it has nothing to do with American politics. Simply put, a literary tea party is a reading strategy that
invites students to pretend to be characters from their book. This particular lesson uses a tea party to introduce
characters from the play Medea. Students receive character descriptions and masks; they are shown food at the
opposite end of the room. They are told that they can eat the food, but that as soon as they stand up, they have
to wear the mask and become the character.

Before the day of the tea party, make sure to ask Chamoto-sensei or someone equally responsible to help you
reserve a room where you can have food. Make sure to tell the homeroom teachers where that room is, and
what period you will be using it, so that they can tell the students. You will also need to buy the masks, food,
and picnic materials before the day of the lesson.
On the day of the lesson, before class, create a spread of snacks and drinks a little distance away from where
you want the kids to be seated. Youll want this spread to be accessible from multiple directions, so that you
dont end up with a queue. Also, arrange the desks into groups, so that you can initially seat all the Medeas
together, all the Jasons together, &c.
When the students first come in, dont let them have any food! Distribute the tea party role sheets, one
character per group. Distribute the masks, one kind per character. Explain that they have five minutes to learn
their characters. They can read silently, but they should talk to their group about the character, and perhaps
work out some things they would say if they met one of the others. Let them work, circulating to help them get
into character.
After five minutes, tell them they are free to stand up and get food, provided they are wearing their mask, and
acting like their characters. They should introduce themselves to everyone they meet. And once they have their
food, they should not sit down with anyone who has the same character as them.
If there are extra masks, you can choose one and interact with the students as that character. The interactive
part of the lesson neednt go on that long, however, only long enough for all the characters to meet each other
and the students interests to be piqued.
After everyone has food & drink and has settled down, call their attention together and ask what they know
about the three main characters Medea, Jason, and Creon. Ask what Creons daughters name is; when they
cant tell you, ask them to keep that question in mind.
Tell them that the story of Medea began long before the play, and that most of it is actually the story of Jason.
Distribute the Medea timeline worksheet and ask them to take notes as you briefly tell the story of Jason and
the Argonauts. Then tell the story, and mark a timeline of your own on the board to help them follow you. Make
sure to point out that the events of the play Medea only cover a tiny amount of space near the end of the
timeline. Oh and be sure not to tell them the end of the play!
When you finish lecturing, distribute the script for Medea, and break them into small groups (ideally of four or
five) to read it aloud. Tell them to read the first Key Section. Medea, Creon, and the Chorus are present;
anyone can read any character, but the masks that go with Medea and Creon should be worn by whoever is
reading those two, and all unassigned students should read the Chorus in synchrony.
Let them read Key Section One. For homework, they should read all of the reading marked Day One, but most
of the quiz questions come from the Key Section, so emphasize that if theyre having trouble with
comprehension, they should just focus on the Key Section.
NOTE: This unit plan is set up to rush students through Medea in four class periods; however it would be fine to slow the
pace down a bit and focus more on reading. You might opt, for example, to have students begin the play at the top of
page one, and you might give them class time to read all of Day One before you quiz them on it. Your choice might
depend on the level of your students and/or on what else you plan to do with the latter half of the term.

Day Three: Reading Medea, part 2

Materials: Spare copies of the Medea text, copies of the Medea part 1 quiz, masks
Procedures:
Give them a few minutes to review and compare notes before giving them the quiz. When youre ready, quiz
them. When they finish writing, have them exchange sheets and correct for each other. Call on students for
answers, and go into some depth reviewing what happened.
After the quiz ask them to take the Timeline and Greek Theater note sheet out. Discuss the origins of Greek
theater as a religious festival and as a contest. Tell them briefly about Thespis, the first actor. Also, show them
how enjambment works when reading poetry, so that they wont be confused when a coherent meaning isnt
contained in each line.
Once youve finished with your brief lecture, put them in small groups again, and assign them to read Key
Section Two aloud, in class. Distribute masks. The characters this time are Medea, Jason, and the Chorus. Assign
them to read the whole of Day Two as homework.

Day Four: Reading Medea, part 3

Materials: Spare copies of the Medea text, copies of the Medea part 2 quiz, masks
Procedures:
Repeat the quiz procedures.
Briefly lecture on Euripides and the Three Classical Unities.
Put students in groups and distribute masks for Key Section Three. Characters are Medea, Jason, and Chorus.
Assign them to read the whole of Day Three as homework.

Day Five: Reading Medea, part 4

Materials: Spare copies of Medea text, copies of the Medea part 2 quiz, blank lined paper for writing, masks
Writing Prompt: Who is worse, Jason or Medea?
Procedures:
Repeat the quiz procedures.
After reviewing the quiz answers, distribute the blank lined paper, and ask the students to do speedwriting
about the prompt who is worse? Give them 7-10 minutes, and then have them read their answers aloud to a
partner.
After the speedwriting, briefly lecture about strophe & antistrophe and deus ex machina. When you finish, read
the rest of the remaining play as a class. You will need a Messenger, two Children, Jason, and Medea, as well as
a Chorus (& possibly a Chorus Leader). Put them in the middle of the room or as close an approximation as you
can improvise and have the rest of the class stand up in a broad circle around them. As the Chorus speaks, it
can move around the room in circles, changing directions at every period strophe & antistrophe, more or less.
If you dont finish the play today, you can finish during the next class.

Day Six: Reflecting on Medea

Materials: Extra copies of the text, copies of the Medea reflection sheet, masks
Procedures:
Finish the play as a class, if necessary. Afterwards, distribute the Medea reflection sheet and briefly walk them
through both questions. Emphasize that they dont have to answer both questions, and that they can choose
which one they want to write about.
Let them write for the whole period. If they finish free writing! If they dont finish, the reflection is homework
for the next class.

Day Seven: Medea debate

Materials: Debate role sheet (optional)
Procedures:
I left the role sheet in the binder as an example; however this one is best when more informal, organic and
improvised. Students will assume the role of either Jason or Medea, and will try to put all the blame squarely on
the other person.
Split the class into two groups. If their opinions already divided them neatly in half, great! If not, though, even it
out. Excuse two or three to be Judges.
Tell each side that they will have to make an opening speech at the outset and a closing speech at the end. As
much as possible, they should become the character, use the 1st and 2nd person pronouns, and try to say
whatever their character would actually say. Give them 5-7 minutes to prepare their speeches.
The judges, meanwhile, will brainstorm a list of questions, phrased as neutrally as possible Whose fault is it
that the children died? That Creon and his daughter died? Why didnt Jason ask Medeas permission before
getting engaged? &c. They should have at least ten of these.
When the preparation time is up, divide the two teams to opposite sides of the room, and have them give their
opening speeches. After that, allow the judges to ask one question at a time. Only one person should speak in
answer to each question. No one can speak twice until everyone has answered at least once. The judges can
award up to 3 points for any given answer, but they are never required to, unless the debater cites information
from the actual text. Let the debate go on all period if possible. Confer with them after each argument, pointing
out the strengths of each answer.
If the debate ends, move on to a brief lecture about patriarchy. Write the word on the board, and ask what its
component parts means (patri- father and -archy top or beginning or source). Draw a horizontal line on the
board and write man above and woman below. Then write up next to man and down next to woman.
Ask: what else goes along with up and down? Sky and Earth, for example . . . and what goes along with
that? The students should be able to help you come up with a telling set of parallel associations heaven and
hell/good and evil/sane and insane/logical and emotional/civilized and barbarian/life and death/day and
night/sun and moon, &c.

man up
sky
woman down earth

heaven good
hell
evil

sane
crazy

reason
emotion

city
life
day
nature death night

Jason___
Medea

Ask them if it makes sense to them to give men all the upper associations, and women all the lower associations
Its tempting, isnt it? But it isnt actually true; it isnt natural, its just a bias thats deeply built into our culture.
Patriarchy is a myth that ancient writers like Euripides deliberately created, and weve been repeating it so long
that it almost seems natural and true to us. But . . . theres no reason why the day should be masculine, and the
night feminine. And women are not more emotional or more in touch with nature than men are. Its a myth! &c.
Show them the way Euripides uses this patriarchal set The waters of the sacred rivers / are flowing in
reverse . . . and honor is coming to the female sex &c. Tell them that the deep issue in this play is what
Euripides is saying about gender. Is he saying that women and foreigners are treated unfairly, or is he saying that
women are naturally dangerous and unstable, and that society needs to be run by men in other words,
patriarchal?

Day Eight: Persuasive Essay, part 1

Materials: Copies of the persuasive essay outline (copy it onto one doubled-sided B4 sheet)
Procedures:
If you did not have time for the patriarchy lecture, do it first. After the lecture, introduce the writing assignment.
NOTE: This assumes prior knowledge of thesis statements and forecast sentences. If students seem confused by
these, take an extra day to focus on them.
Pass out the outline sheet, and introduce the assignment. Stress that the question is now who Euripides sides
with, and not merely which character they themselves support. They are to use evidence from the text to prove
that the playwright intended to make one character or another look worse. If you have higher level students,
they can also opt to tackle the question of patriarchy & whether Medea is a subversive tale or a cautionary one.
Walk them through the outline, perhaps writing an example thesis and forecast on the board. Note that the
fourth paragraph has a slightly different format than the two before it.
If they finish the outline in class, they can begin working on their first typed drafts. If they do not finish, the
outlining sheet is homework.

Day Nine: Persuasive Essay, part 2

Materials: Extra copies of outlining sheet
Procedures:
Before they begin working, review good beginnings, and provide a few brief example hooks. Also review titles
and the concept of leaving the reader with a few final thoughts in the conclusion, after restating the thesis.
Allow them to have the rest of the period to write. If they do not finish their draft in class, its homework.

Day Ten: Revision Letters

Materials: Copies of Peer Revision letter handout for Medea

Procedures:
Distribute revision letter handout, and review the kinds of specific feedback that should go into each paragraph.
Remind them that youll be grading them on how well theyre able to use their partners feedback (even if that
isnt true). Ask them to print two copies of their essays one for you, and one for their partners.
Let them have the rest of the period to write. Remind them that their letters are due next class, & that they
therefore shouldnt wait on a partner who hasnt finished his or her first draft yet. They can be the second or
third reader for someone else, if necessary. In fact those who havent finished their first drafts should probably
write a revision letter for someone else before being allowed to finish their own papers. Revision letters are
homework if they cant finish them in class.

Day Eleven: Persuasive Essay, part 3

Materials: Edited first drafts to hand back (if possible)
Procedures:
Hand back edited drafts while students print revision letters. Go over common mistakes, such as abrupt
transitions and the use of 1st person singular pronouns.
After students have read each others revision letters, encourage them to try and use at least one suggestion
from a partners letter. Allow them the rest of the period to write. If they dont finish, their second draft is
homework.

Day Twelve: Persuasive Essays, part 4

Procedures:
Ask students to print their final drafts, and have them read them to each other in groups of three or four. If any
students havent finished, isolate them and set them to work. You may use the supplementary assignment to
differentiate down a bit if students are struggling.
Once (most) everyone is finished, you can use the rest of the period to prepare for an exam or introduce a new
unit.

Peer Response: A Letter

Your name: _________________________________________________________________Class:___#:___
Partners name: __________________________________________________________________________
Today, find a partner. Swap papers. You will write at least a 300 word letter in response to your partners paper.

In order to keep writing, writers need to know what they are doing right, as well as what they need to revise.
What is delightful, memorable, outstanding about this piece? What can you say to keep this writer writing?
Make this your first paragraph.
Paragraph 1. Help your partner keep whats working.

Discuss the introduction, main ideas, and conclusion of this essay. Tell what worked. For example, Your
description of the blood on Medeas dress was a great way to begin your paper. OR: Youre right; there is
nothing worse that betraying someone who loves you.

You might include what you learned from the essay. What new lessons or ideas did your partner discuss?

Also point out specific ideas or quotations you liked. For example, you might say, I really liked your point about
the role of women in Greek society. Id never thought about the fact that Creons daughter doesnt have a
name. OR: It was interesting to think about the differences between the things Jason says and the
consequences of his actions. He claims to be so logical, but as you pointed out, if he were really thinking clearly,
he would have known it was dangerous to mess with Medea!

In other words: Be specific.

Paragraph 2. Help your partner revise for the following things:

Clarity. Where there any quotations that you didnt understand? Tell your partner if youd like more information.

Analysis / lessons learned. What conclusions does the writer draw from his or her arguments? What new ideas
does he or she put into the essay? Let the writer know if any of the quotations lack an explanation.

Organization. Does this essay follow the outline format? Is there a forecast sentence that clearly shows the
order of ideas? Do the body paragraphs begin with appropriate topic sentences?

Style. Does the essay begin in a way that gets your attention? Does the ending leave you with something new to
think about? How could the writer improve these things?

Thesis. What is the main idea of this essay? Is it clearly stated in a single sentence? If not, can you suggest a
sentence that might work?

Conclusion. Does the ending make you think, or does it seem abrupt? What could the writer do to improve the
ending?