(2016 final exam assignment) Sample Student Final Exam Essays 2016 Essay 3. Special Topics on Tragedy Special Topic # 9: Teaching Tragedy

LITR 4370 Tragedy  Model Assignments

Tedra Mendoza

Tragedy in the Classroom

          Before coming into this course, my only knowledge of tragedy was Romeo and Juliet and then of course events that have happened in my life. People often say that pain is the strongest teacher (White, 2016). I have found this to be quite true in my own life but as I have read the tragedy plays in this course, I have found this saying to be even more accurate. Horace says that literature’s purpose is to instruct, teach, inform, guide, or provide models of behavior, whether positive or negative; to offer a moral or lesson; also to model successful style for other writers or artists to imitate (White, 2016). Tragedy also narrates essential conflicts that define human identity, the consequences of such conflicts, and potential resolutions. This is the perfect reason why tragedy must be taught to students in the high school setting because they come across this more often than others allowing them to relate and learn from the pain that is within tragedy.

          Tragedy is not being taught the correct way in some high schools. Tragedy is often only associated with Romeo and Juliet in the high school literature classes which is why I never really enjoyed tragedy until coming into this course. The way the characters in the Oresteia trilogy, Mourning Becomes Electra, and Oedipus the King go through difficult decisions and make poor decisions is based upon their moral compass and fate. They see it as though they are correct but later reap the consequences of their actions which is something I never truly understood in high school. “Tragedy expresses a combination of humanity’s creative or formal impulses with its destructive or wild impulses” (Birth of Tragedy). This demonstrates how tragedy really relates to humanity because other genres sugar coat a lot of situations or try to make everything seem as if it is all going to work out when in the real world this is not always the case.

          Students can learn from the pain that is within tragedy and should welcome it. They see tragedy all the time because “tragedy is not something that just occurs in plays, it happens in real life… turn on the news and it is full of murder and wrong-doings, we are surrounded by it” (Katherine Vellella). High school students need a way to put their issues into perspective because they are more willing to read something that pertains to them. In the Oresteia trilogy, students would be able to relate to Cassandra’s character where they say something they feel is relevant but others tune them out. They would also be able to relate to the deaths that happen within the play because more often than not, students have experienced loss by having someone taken away from them due to someone else’s rage. These are just a few examples of how students can benefit from more than just Romeo and Juliet in high school and how they can learn from the pain.

          If I were to teach Romeo and Juliet, I would have the students read it on their own time and then come into class to discuss it. This allows the students to hear what other students got from the text and also allows everyone to voice their opinions. I would also show the students some clips from different plays just as Dr. White has showed us clips of plays. This allows the students to have a better understanding of what is happening during a certain scene while also putting some faces to characters. There are also many other techniques such as allowing the students to recreate the play and put on a show for the rest of their peers in the class or to have them rewrite the play so that it may be more modernized. These techniques allow the students to fully engage and think about what they are actually reading.

          Modernizing the plays for the students is something that will allow them to have a better understanding of the plays that have come before that plays time. They will be able to draw connections and also see the changes that have been made. An example would be to have the students read Hippolytus first and then read Desire Under the Elms. These two plays correlate with one another because Desire Under the Elms is a more modern play of Hippolytus. Desire Under the Elms is a play that I hope to teach to my students one day because it has more modern aspects to it and it is relatable to the students. The romantic relationship always appeals to high school students because they have their own affairs going on and also the death of a child can also be viewed as realistic because we always see tragic events taking place on the news. This allows the students to have a better understanding of tragedy because it actually happens in real life.

          Another play that I am eager to teach in high school is Antigone. While this is definitely an audience favorite, it does have a lot of relatable scenes in it that appeals to the high school level. Antigone is passionate and faithful. She wants to honor her brother by burying his body so she will do whatever it takes in order to complete that task. I feel that it is relatable because many high school students have siblings and best friends that they consider to be their siblings so if they were in Antigone’s shoes so to speak, they would want to honor their sibling as well. They would be able to understand why she chooses the path she chooses.

          Teaching is something that I am excited about because while many find tragedy relatable, it involves many emotions while reading plays. Tragedy is valuable and many high school students can learn a lot if they are taught it the right way because when a subject is taught the proper way, students thrive and enjoy what is being taught.

          The readings we have read so far are definitely plays that I would want my high school students to read because they are beneficial for the students. I agree with Kaitlin when she writes teachers “must teach Tragedy as relevant, relatable, and enjoyable.  The educational benefits of tragedy are endless when a teacher can help guide students in connecting the literature to their lives. When a teacher succeeds in this, the exploration for students within the genre has just begun.” This is something that I hope to achieve one day.