Sappho a female poet

from ancient Greece

MULTICULTURAL
LESSON PLAN

By

Srebrina Ayladanova
NSHE ID: 5004615988

Time: 2 hours [with one break in between each hour]

Subject: Social studies/ History
Designed for grade level: 9th 10th grade
Nevada Curriculum Standards:
1. Students read to comprehend, interpret, and evaluate literature from a variety of
authors, cultures, and times.
Observable objective:

Students will be able to describe the era poet Sappho was living in and give examples of
the breakthroughs she has made. (comprehension level)
2. Students participate in discussions to offer information, clarify ideas, and support
a position.
Observable objective:

Students will be able to write a one-page essay based on the knowledge they gained on
the topic. (application level)

Multicultural goal + observable objective:

Develop multiple historical perspectives Students will be able to explain why women
did not have the same social status as men in ancient Greece. (comprehension)

Learning styles: Auditory, Visual and Kinesthetic (A-V-K) learning styles.

Gardners intelligences:
1 Linguistic intelligence
2 Logical-Mathematical intelligence
3 Interpersonal intelligence
4 Spatial intelligence
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Materials:

Sappho: Love and life on Lesbos island with Margaret Mountford, Documentary

The song - To Aphrodite from the album Sacred music of Greek antiquity

Copies of the poem Hymn to Aphrodite (Fragment 1) - 7 paragraphs total 1 paragraph for
each one of the 7 small cooperative groups.

3 items (pictures) illustrating Sapphos 3 signature interests Sappho and her lyre; Sappho
and a female companion; Sappho sea and poetry;

Markers and a white board for the Venn diagram.

Instruction/ Procedures:
This lesson may raise questions about a very controversial topic. It is important that the
teacher has the correct approach and respect the students opinion. The main objective is to
address the issue about inequality and discrimination that plagued the life of female and
homosexual historical figures. It is crucial that the educator successfully enhance critical
thinking in students.
Before starting the class, the teacher should prepare the 3 items and place them on a
central place in the classroom. The three items purpose is to visualize key attributes, which
define the characteristics of Sapphos poetry. It also assists the learners who have a visual
learning style grasp the information.
To ensure that all visually and hearing impaired students needs are met, the teacher will
seat them close to her/his desk and provide enlarged copies of the poem.

The teacher dressed up like Sappho should enter the room, while in the background the
song To Aphrodite is playing. She will tell the students her life story, based on the facts found
in the materials. Then she will tell them that she has heard her poems were lost and possibly
recycled and will ask Could it be that my missing work is wrapped around a
mummy/mummies?
The educator should give a short
introduction speech. Students write down
the name of the figure the teacher shows
and a brief explanation. Have them think
critically about each piece of art. Early
images of Sappho in the most literal
sense, begin with representations on
Athenian vases. On the first such vase to
survive, from the end of the sixth century
BCE, she is shown holding a lyre in one
hand. Teacher shows picture #1. This is
a standard way of representing anyone
concerned with poetry. Teacher gives examples of historical artifacts: the mythical poet
Orpheus, the Muses, the god Apollo, etc. Teacher points out that Sapphos name is also written
on the vase. And then the teacher adds: the vase is important as evidence that her fame as a poet
was taking root in Athens, a city whose status as major cultural center over the next few centuries
became crucial in preserving her reputation and works.
Teacher moves on to picture #2. Sappho and Erinna in a garden at Mytilene by Simeon
Solomon.
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The picture depicts

Sappho embracing her fellow poet
Erinna in a garden at Mytilene on
the island of Lesbos. Sappho was
born at Lesbos in about 612BC.
After a period of exile in Sicily she
returned to the island and was at
the center of a community of
young women devoted to
Aphrodite and the Muses. The
principal subject of her work is the joy and frustration of love and the most complete surviving
poem is an invocation to the goddess Aphrodite to help her in her relationship with a woman.
Teacher lets students know that they will be analyzing this poem later on in this lesson and could
make the connection between this piece of art and the text.

Picture #3 - Sappho by Ernst Stckelberg, 1897

Teacher gives brief information: Its important to
note that the by the sea images of Sappho reflect
the largely debunked Phaon Legend, which had
Sappho hurtling herself into the sea over her
unrequited love for a ferryman. Some scholars
propose this legend was invented to establish
Sappho as heterosexual, and dispel the culture of

homosexuality that surrounded her work. Teacher does not post a specific question
about that here, but asks students to think about that manipulation of history for
reasons of political correctness definitely not a new phenomenon.
After the brief introduction that emphasized on Sapphos distinctive traits, the teacher
plays the documentary Sappho: Love and life on Lesbos island with Margaret
Mountford. The movie is approximately 1 hour long and I recommend that the
teacher reviews it beforehand, so that he/she finds the proper stopping point and
resume it for the next lesson. Students take notes. This film is another way to
accommodate all students needs based on their learning styles. Such as auditory,
visual and kinesthetic. Discussion questions will be based mainly on the information
showed in this supplementary video material. The students who use spatial
intelligence will able to transform the visual information and help the class recreate
the information into a Venn diagram.

Teacher divides the class in 7 groups and hands out the copies of the poem. Each
group of students will pinpoint the emotions in each of the paragraphs of Hymn to
Aphrodite. The teacher will float from one cooperative group to another to provide
assistance if needed. In the end, the educator will also help students create a
dictionary for the words they are not familiar with. This activity will assist students
who use linguistic intelligence to comprehend the lesson easier.

Conduct a class discussion. Students who perform better when using logicalmathematical intelligences would have the opportunity to think of cause and effect
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connections and understand the relationships between actions and ideas. You can find
the questions bellow:

Discussion questions:
a) Are we mislead by other peoples prejudice to assume that historical geniuses had
some kind of mental disorder or were suicidal just because they did not fit the
norm?
b) What are Sapphos contributions to literature and how does her work enriches our
lives?
c) Sappho was exiled from Lesbos to Sicily. Oscar Wilde, another homosexual
author spent the last years of his life in impoverished exile. Do you think that
humanity have come a long way and learnt how to appreciate a persons sexual
orientation?
d) For centuries what you had to say about Sappho, has been code for what you
have to say about women in general. Particularly, about women who are not afraid
to speak their mind. (Quotes Margaret Mountford) Do you think that if women
and men were treated equally back then, the world we live in now would be
different? How?
e) How did Sappho influence the modern culture?

While the discussion runs, work with the class as a whole to create a quick Venn diagram that
shows the following:

a) In the overlapping area, students will list the rights that women had back in that
time and now.
b) On the left, students will list the rights that women were given in ancient Greece.
c) On the right, students will list the rights women have now.

Closure:
The closure is a cognitive process that would show how effective this multicultural lesson
was. Teacher begins with: As a woman, Sappho had the good fortune to be born into a society
which allowed her talent scope to develop, a culture which was, to judge by the evidence of her
poems, markedly less misogynous than that of many Greek cities. (Athens in particular) Women
seem to have taken a large role in the social and religious life of Lesbos.
Students will continue by summarizing the material learnt in the class and respond critically to
the supplementary video. Students list the key ideas from the lesson and why they were
important. Students explain relevancy of the concept to their life or how they might use it.

Assessment:

Students will use the answers from the discussion and the Venn diagram to create a onepage essay, comparing and contrasting the social status of women from that era and that of
women today. This will be evaluated by the teacher. It will be due the next day. The
assessments goal is to enhance childrens critical thinking skills. They should not be judged on
their opinions. The assessment is built so that all A-V-K learning styles and Gardners
intelligences mentioned on page #2 are included. Stressing on students abilities to recognize and
distinguish anothers feelings and intentions, empathize and recognize differences among people,
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and appreciate other perspectives. Therefore, this lesson was also designed to develop the
interpersonal intelligence in students.

Assessment rubric:
The teacher can evaluate students work using the following holistic critical thinking scoring
rubric (given ahead of time):

3 Demonstrates

excellent critical thinking skills. Student accurately interprets

the video material, questions, and etc. Identifies all obstacles before women from
ancient Greece; Thoughtfully analyzes and evaluates all relevant information;
Justifies key results, explains assumption and reasons.

2 Student uses some of the sources. Interprets in a very interesting way the
video material, questions and etc. Shows good critical thinking skills and some
historical inaccuracies. Profound analyzation and evaluation of most of the
information included in the lesson.

1 Fails to identify strong and relevant counter-arguments. Misinterprets video

material, questions, etc. Justifies few results and seldom explains reasons.
Regardless of the evidence or reasons, maintains or defends views, based on selfinterest or preconceptions.

References:

Margaret Williamson (1995) Sapphos immortal daughters. Harvard University Press

Wendy Slatkin (1990) Women artists in history. Prentice Hall.

Sappho: Love and life on Lesvos with Margaret Mountford, documentary.

Tate Britain gallerys website - http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/solomon-sappho-anderinna-in-a-garden-at-mytilene-t03063/text-summary

Jim Powell (1993) Sappho a garland. New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux

Philip Freeman (2013) Oh, my gods: a modern retelling of Greek and Roman myths.
Simon and Schuster - Highly recommended for readers interested in womens studies and
poetry of Ancient Greece.

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