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A Teacher's Guide To A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO ALIGNED TO THE COMMON CORE “An absolutely brilliant technical tour de force.” —Orville Prescott, The Yale Review HarperAcademic.com A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THORNTON WILDER’S THE IDES OF MARCH 2 Table of Contents Note to Teachers 3 About This Guide 3 Before You Read 3 As You Read 4 Collaborative Class Project 4 Guided Reading Questions 4 Book One 4 Book Two 6 Book Three 7 Book Four 8 Afterword 9 Writing and Research Prompts 10 Explanatory/Informational Prompts 10 Argumentation Prompts 12 Narrative Prompts 13 Works by Thornton Wilder 15 Novels 15 Plays 15 Links of Interest 15 Books of Interest 15 About This Guide’s Author 16 A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THORNTON WILDER’S THE IDES OF MARCH 3 Note to Teachers Today’s students have grown up with unprecedented access to avenues of information. They are not a single source of information generation. Instead, they synthesize a variety of sources and perspectives: Twitter, Blogs, Tumblr, Facebook, websites, databases, TED talks, YouTube, podcasts, and, occasionally, a textbook. They tell their own stories through the filters of Instagram and Snap- chat, through their Vine and Twitter and Tumblr posts. They are adept at evaluating information, and they understand the nuance of replies: the interface of hashtags and likes, and the significance of the length of space between the time when a message is read and a response is written. In other words, they are a generation particularly well-suited to engage with The Ides of March. The Ides of March is a structurally and thematically complex novel exploring the events leading up to the assassination of Julius Caesar. Written as an epistolary novel, the text is structured as a series of historical documents that build on each other to reveal character, plot, and theme. As an addition to a unit on Julius Caesar’s assassination or the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, the novel provides a way for students and teachers to connect history to essential questions and to develop enduring understandings about power and responsibility. The Thornton Wilder Society is an excellent resource to support the study of this important American writer. The questions and activities in this teaching guide were written to support standards-based instruction.The Ides of March meets the standard for Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity for grades 9-12. Because of its clear connections to both World History curriculum and Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, this guide is linked to the standards for grades 9-10. It is an excellent choice for a multidisciplinary unit. A complete list of the Common Core State Standards can be found at http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards. About This Guide This Teacher’s Guide is divided into two sections. The first, “Guided Reading Questions,” will help students with reading compre- hension and appreciation. These questions can be used as a guide for annotating the text, journal responses, or discussion. The sec- ond section, “Writing and Research Prompts,” consists of analytical writing and research prompts and is subdivided into genres based on the Common Core writing standards. A variety of prompts are included for each genre, and teachers are encouraged to choose those that are best suited for their students. The argumentation prompts can be modified for use in Socratic seminars or class debates if a teacher wishes to focus on Speaking and Listening standards. Before You Read The title The Ides of March is an allusion to the date of Caesar’s assassination, and Wilder’s text ends with a brief account of the event. Before students begin reading the text, refresh their memory (or familiarize them) with the historical details of the assas- sination. Begin your exploration by examining Vincenzo Camuccini’s painting The Death of Julius Caesar: http://tinyurl.com/ prwko32 Use the following questions to guide the discussion: Consider the composition of the painting? How many conspirators are there? Where does the assassination take place? What can you infer about the different attitudes of the conspirators? What does this suggest about their motives for assassinating Caesar? What does Julius Caesar’s expression and body language suggest about his response to the assassination? How do the people witnessing the assassination appear to respond? How do you think the artist intends you to feel about the death of Caesar? For additional background on Caesar, the BBC has two excellent podcasts available to download: http://tinyurl.com/h5juz48 http://tinyurl.com/gv4me4a CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.7 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.2 A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THORNTON WILDER’S THE IDES OF MARCH 4 As You Read One of the most pleasurable aspects of reading an epistolary novel is the slow unfolding of plot and character. In Wilder’s own words, the novel is a sort of game that he is “inviting readers to play” with him (262). Indeed, readers of The Ides of March are invit- ed to play the role of historians, examining an imagined set of documents to piece together the complex narrative web of Caesar’s allies and enemies. As you read the text, create a collaborative document where students can cite textual evidence and add details about each character as they are revealed. This can be done on physical chart paper or on a collaborative web document through a service like Google Docs or One Drive. Collaborative Class Project Using Wilder’s text as inspiration, create a dramatic narrative for performance using student-generated “epistolary-style” material. You may choose to create a fictional narrative or research a contemporary or historical event to chronicle. Assign each student a character and have them develop “entries” in the form of letters, email, journal entries, legal documents, reports, newspaper clippings, social media postings, texts, etc. that build on each other to reveal plot, character, and theme. You may want to consider adding a narrator to play a linking role similar to that of the Stage Manager in Wilder’s Our Town. As a culminating activity, present your narrative as a work of reader’s theater or staged reading. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.6 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.3 (a-e) Guided Reading Questions CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences. BOOK ONE 1. Consider the first three Documents in this section (I, I-A, and I-B). What do they reveal about the belief system of the Ro- man populous? How do Caesar’s beliefs differ from the majority? CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1 2. Summarize Caesar’s list of accomplishments on page 7. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2 3. Describe the tone of Caesar’s letters to Lucius Mamilius Turrinus. What does this reveal about his relationship with Lucius? Consider the annotation at the beginning of Document III – what does it reveal about the correspondence between Caesar and Lucius? CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.3 4. Consider Documents II, II-A, and II-B. What do these Documents reveal about the attitudes of the populace towards Clodia Pulcher? CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1 5. Using evidence from the text to support your answer, summarize Caesar’s attitude towards Clodia Pulcher. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2 6. According to Caesar, how does belief in a Divine Presence or God negatively impact people like Clodia? (pg. 16) CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1 7. Why do many of the women in the novel want to disbar Clodia from participating in the Mysteries of the Good Goddess? CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1 8. Consider Document IV-A. Why do you think Caesar dictates the beginning of the letter to a secretary but finishes it in his own handwriting? How does the tone and content change in the second section of the letter? Why do you think he refuses to answer his aunt’s request for information about Lucius? CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.5 9. On page 21, Wilder reveals details of the rumors about Clodia. What is she suspected of doing? CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1 A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THORNTON WILDER’S THE IDES OF MARCH 5 10. Wilder uses Document V to reveal information about several characters. In addition to revealing the content of the rumors about Clodia, it also gives information about Lucius and gives readers a glimpse of the way others view Caesar. Summarize the important details revealed in this letter. What does the letter indirectly reveal about its author (Lady Sempronia Metella)? CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.5 11. What is Clodia’s tone in Document VI? What does it reveal about her relationship with her brother Publius Clodius? What does she want him to do? How does he respond? CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4 12. What do Documents VII and VII-A reveal about the relationship between Clodia and Pompeia, Caesar’s wife? CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1 13. Look closely at Document VII. Who does Caesar acknowledge as being his enemies? How does he feel about these men? According to Caesar, how does his political philosophy differ from the philosophy of his enemies? CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2 14. Why is Caesar considering abolishing religious observances? Why does he hesitate? CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1 15.
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