Look in the Mythic Mirror

Week 5: I've Got Rhythm!

Essential Questions ]|[ Standards ]|[ Objectives for this Lesson ]|[ Instructional Plan ]|[ Assessment

OVERVIEW

In this lesson, students explore the relationships between music, poetry, and visual art. Using the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, the students develop an awareness of the compositional elements of the Classical style, and the aesthetic effects of those elements.

OBJECTIVES FOR THIS LESSON

At the end of this week, students will be able to:

• Discern and describe structural elements in a classical music piece.
• Discern and describe elements and effects of classical composition in painting.
• Compare elements of classical composition in painting with structural elements of music.
• Discern differences between composition and rhythm, recognizing both as tools the artist has in telling a story.
• Compare the effects of rhythm in poetry with that of rhythm in music in the telling of a story
• Describe the guidelines of the ten-week culminating project.

INSTRUCTIONAL PLAN

1. Replay "Dance of the Blessed Spirit" from Orpheus and Eurydice, and ask students to consider its structure. Relate structure to composition. See the structural analysis provided with this unit, and have students follow along through at least one play of the music. If students are comfortable, consider introducing the minuet dance to them to be presented simultaneously with the second or third rendition of the musical selection. Have them consider: How does the structure of the dance relate to the structure of the music?

   Note: The music portions of this lesson would work well if a music specialist takes on guiding students through the structural analysis, and the regular classroom teacher works with students on connecting it to composition and the other genres studied.

2. Show a painting featuring Orpheus. (An extensive list of resources is provided with this unit.) Use an overhead transparency of the painting so that a clear film can be placed over the image. Use different color markers for each task, or use a different film for each. Have student groups work together to complete the analysis of the structure of the painting.

Activities - Students:

• Using the first marker or film, graph how your eyes move within the painting.
• Using the second marker or film, trace repetitive patterns in the painting.
• Using the third marker or film, outline dominant shapes and colors.
• Remove the clear film with the graphic indicators and discuss the patterns that emerge, answering these questions in the large group: Is there movement? Balance/stability? How do you feel about the painting? How is the structure in the painting compared to the structure in the music from Orpheus?
• Individually, write your reflections in your journal, assessing the similarities and differences between the music, (dance), and artwork.
• If time permits, repeat the same activity with the painting used in your Week 3 presentations and share the results with the larger group, explaining your graph in terms of the painting’s composition and in terms of your responses to the artists’ choices.

3. Introduce a ballad or narrative poem, about Orpheus, (or the same mythological character included in the music and artwork studied this week). Tell students that aside from composition and structure, another tool that the artist has is rhythm and meter. Demonstrate the difference through a series of large group activities using the poem. Place an overhead of the poem for all to see at the front of the room.

Activities - Students:

• Read the poem aloud, one reader per line.
• Then read the poem again, this time to each period or semi-colon. Consider: What happens to the flow of the story when the reading is divided by line and by punctuation?
• Beat out the rhythm together, snapping for unaccented syllables and hitting the desktop for accented syllables. Consider: What’s the feel of the rhythm? Of what does it remind you? How does the rhythm help you picture the mythological story (or not)? How does rhyme affect the rhythm?
• Now, return to the Orpheus music by Gluck. As the music plays again, beat out the rhythm together, as you did with the poem. What similarities do the poetic and musical structures have? What’s the effect of the regularity of the rhythmic structure?
• With the music playing, read aloud as a whole-class ensemble the poem, allowing the rhythm of the music to guide the rhythm of the reading. How does the rhythm of the music compare to the rhythm of the poem?
• Write in your journal a summary of the comparisons we've discussed in class, and observations about how the rhythm of both the poem and the music affect the telling of the Orpheus story.

4. Introduce the 10-week unit culminating project: the creation of an original mythological society, completed by individuals or groups, and have students email their online partners a paragraph about what they will be expected to complete for the project. The culminating project will take about four weeks to complete, so it should be introduced at the end of week five (see curriculum outline in Introduction). Use the scoring guide provided (or create one) to explain clearly what is expected from each student and how they will be evaluated on their projects. It is important to be clear about evaluation, grading procedures, and expectations. Due to the magnitude of the project and the coordination of peer revisions online, the students will need to work in manageable stages, as outlined in the list of due dates for the project.

CORRESPONDING ASSESSMENTS

• Discussion: structure of a musical composition
• Cooperative learning group: analysis of painting
• Large group activity: analysis of rhythm in poetry and music
• Email/online: paragraph demonstrating understanding of culminating project to online partners

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