Cyrano de Bergerac Lesson Plan

Baroque and Belle Epoque

Kind of Activity:

Group Work

Objective:

To better understand the context of the play and the time in which it was written.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.1; CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.1; CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.6

Structure:

Students will break into four to six groups. Half of the groups will choose subjects from the 17th century, the others from roughly 1880-1914, all French. Each group should focus on a single area: visual art, words, or music.

The goal here is for students to understand that Cyrano is decidedly a work of the Belle Epoque, even though it's informed by the period in which it is set. Aesthetic and philosophical...