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Lesson Plan
Characters, Characterization & Character Development
in Classical Greek Mythology
Course: World Literature & Composition (10th Grade)
Unit: Fiction
Objectives: Students will (a) read the authoritative collection of classical mythology, (b) learn the major elements of mythology, (c) distinguish types of characters (flat/round, static/dynamic, protagonist, antagonist, comedic relief, stereotype, archetype, etc.) in various myths, (d) find examples of direct and indirect characterization, and (e) analyze a character from mythology in a five-paragraph essay and project.
Georgia Professional Standards: ELA10RL1, ELA10RL2, ELAWLRL1, ELAWLRC4
Materials:

-Mythology by Edith Hamilton

-Questions on “Introduction” and “The Gods” in Mythology

-Olympians Pop Quiz

-Everything You Need to Know about Characters, Characterization and Character  Development

-Character, Characterization and Character Development Questions

-Project on Mythological Character

Procedures:
1.
To engage students’ interest and to connect them to the text, begin this lesson with a creative writing assignment. First preface the assignment with the following question: Without a telescope, how do you know the world is round?  Allow the students some time to think and discuss, and then ask if anyone knows when the telescope was invented.  Explain that the telescope has only been around for five-hundred years, not very long compared to the thousands and thousands of years humans have existed.  Now, consider that the Big Bang theory, which explains the origin of the universe, has been around less than fifty years.  Basically, most of human history was spent before scientific discoveries and thus without knowledge of what the world looked like, let alone where it came from.  Tell the students to imagine life before science and technology.  How would they answer questions like, “Where does the sun come from?  What is the purpose of the moon?  Why does it rain?  How big is the earth?  How did we get here?”  Without science or technology to prove or disprove anything, the answers could get pretty creative.  For homework, instruct the students to write an original short story that explains how the world and mankind were created.  The most imaginative essay gets first choice in an upcoming project. 
2.
 Activate prior knowledge.  After collecting students’ writing, ask who knows what the name is for a story that explains a phenomenon in nature.  Most should already know the answer is myth. Briefly review the basic elements of a myth and a timeline of world mythology. 
3.
 Distinguish between the four kinds of myths: (a) creation myths, which are about how the world and mankind were created, (b) nature  myths, which explain things in nature, (c)  moral myths, which are about the goodness or badness of human character, and (d) quest myths, which feature a hero on a long and difficult journey.  
4.
 Read “How the World and Mankind Were Created” as an example of a creation myth.  Give a brief synopsis and begin reading to the students.  Use good inflection and pause to discuss crucial information.  Once the students get a sense of what’s going on, have them take turns reading paragraphs out loud.  Beginning a book by reading it out loud with the students gives them the confidence in skill and accountability to classmates to actually read some on their own later. 
5.
 Assign  “Introduction” & “The Gods” from Mythology for students to read by themselves as well as a list of essential questions to answer.  Explain that although there are many authors of classical mythology, the same set characters continue to reappear.  Tonight’s outside reading is an introduction to mythology, the real people who wrote myths, and the non-real gods, goddesses, and creatures they wrote about.   
6.
 After reviewing the outside reading and answering any questions, administer a pop quiz on the information most vital to the rest of the lesson, which is knoweldge of the Olympian gods and goddesses.
7.
 Move on to teaching about characters, characterization and character development. Concepts related to character include protagonist, antagonist, archetype, flat character and round character. Concepts related to characterization include direct and indirect characterization. Concepts related to character development include static/dynamic characters. See Everything You Need to Know about Characters, Characterization and Character Development.
8.
 Have the students read a myth of their choosing and complete the Character Questions worksheet.
9.
 Administer a Pop Quiz on Characters, Characterization and Character Development.
10.
 Assign Mythology Project. Click here for instructions and rubric for students.
Evaluation:
Pop Quiz: Gods & Goddesses
Project on Mythological Character

T.A.P.P. Outcome(s):
#3: The teacher will demonstrate the ability to plan and evaluate materials appropriate for instruction. I chose to build this lesson on mythology into the World Literature & Composition curriculum based on previous data collected from students. Towards the end of the first class I ever taught, at which point I was still relatively clueless as to how to choose what to teach, I asked the students to reflect on what they had learned throughout the semester. An overwhelming majority of students mentioned mythology as the most memorable and interesting thing I taught. With an awareness of students' pre-existing interest in mythology, I was sure to incporporate it into future lessons. Samples of this feedback from students are available here.

#14: The teacher will demonstrate effective oral and written communication skills. One of the assignments incorporated into this lesson is for the students to read some myths of their choosing. On the right side of this page, you will see a listing of links to full-text myths, some of which I adapted or rewrote to make more accessible for my students. This inclusion of original narrative writing demonstrates my effective communication skils.

#15: The teacher will demonstrate appropriate use of technology.
As part of this project, students were assigned the task of building a webpage on the popular site MySpace. Instead of creating a profile for themselves, however, each student will create a My(th)Space Page for the mythological characters on whom they did their projects. Follow the links to students' My(th)Space pages on Artemis, Psyche, and Athena. The My(th)Space homepage is here. The incorporation of the popular social networking site MySpace demonstrates an innovative use of technology in the classroom.