Antigone

Themes can be SUBJECT to opinion….

Fishbowl Set-up How-to1. Only people sitting in the inner

circle may speak.2. If someone from the outer circle has

something to say, he or she sits in one of the two side desks.

3. Said participant may stay as long as he or she has something meaningful to share.

4. Outer circle participants must take notes.

Fish Bowl Rules1. Only one person speaks at a time.2. Participants must use cues such as body language and

eye contact to determine when it is appropriate to speak.3. If two people start to speak at the same time, one must

yield.4. All participants look at the person speaking.5. Questions can be asked of other participants in the inner

circle to motivate them to join in.6. Disagree politely.7. State your ideas and support them with evidence.8. Respond to the comments of other participants by

agreeing or disagreeing and offering additional evidence.

9. Record notes, quotations from the text(s), statistics, etc., that support your ideas and opinions.

10. The teacher or seminar leader does not participate in the discussion except to provide a new question or to terminate an irrelevant or inappropriate line of discussion.

Question 1: Moral Dilemmas

• When put in a moral dilemma, how does Creon rationalize his decisions?

• How does Antigone rationalize her decisions?

• When you encounter a moral dilemma, how do you rationalize your decisions? (Remember to provide scenarios and be specific.)

Question 2: Dis/Obedience• Can a law be just if it goes against a moral

or ethical rule in the society?• How do characters in Antigone determine

whether a law is just?• When they feel a law is unjust, how do the

characters decide when to take action when they feel a law is unjust?

• How do you determine if a law is unjust?• What is your obligation as a citizen if a law

is not upright?

Question 3: Love/Obsession• When does love become an

obsession?– With Creon?– With Antigone?– With Haimon?

• Do the characters have the strength to end their obsession?

• When have you seen love become an obsession?

• (When)Can you end it?

Question 4: Gender Roles

• What do Creon, Ismene, and Choragus's responses to Antigone’s breaking gender norms say about them and the society?

• What about Haimon?• How do you, people, the media,

society, religion, etc. react when women break or challenge gender norms?

• What does that say about what we value?

Question 5: Suicide

• What is Sophocles’ message regarding suicide? Think about--– Suicide as a consequence of characters’

frustration that they have no control of their own fate

– Suicide as committed by characters who accept their fate

– Suicide as being used to escape fate

Wrap-up• For homework, reflect on the ideas

you explored with your classmates about gender, moral dilemmas, obedience and disobedience, love and obsession, and suicide.– Write one page in your writer’s

notebook processing what you had learned. This is due by the next class period.