12/2/2019 Samiha Aladin PD 2

Aim: How does the unraveling of the truth create an epiphany and tragic reversal (PERIPETEIA) for Oedipus?

DO NOW: How much do you really know about your family’s background?

How would you react if you traced enough steps to first learn:

1. your real grandfather was Adolf Hitler
2. Your parents were siblings

We started off today’s class with a class discussion of how everyone would react if they found out that 1) Adolf Hitler was their real grandfather and 2) their parents were siblings. Joshua talked about how his great grandfather was actually a survivor of the Holocaust. Anna said that she would think it’d be cool if she was related to Adolf Hitler. Ms. Fusaro then adds on a twist as to how we would react if we were exposed through social media that Adolf Hitler was our grandfather. Alexis contradicted Anna saying how it’s not cool and how she definitely would not feel cool with Adolf Hitler being her grandfather or to be related to someone like that or someone she’d wanna be associated with especially through social media. 

We spirit read the slides about peripeteia, the importance of peripeteia, and peripeteia vs. anagnorisis. 

• Peripeteia- The reversal as it functions in a plot
• Allows for character growth and motivation change 
• Plot twist 
• Anagnorisis - When a character discovers the true nature of himself to another character 
• Twist that occurs in a character 

Ms. Fusaro and the students try to relate peripeteia to other shows or movies where it occurred. Ms. Fusaro brings up how peripeteia occurred in Macbeth during the second level of the prophecy. Some kids and Ms. Fusaro bring up connections to shows they watch but most of the class is unfamiliar with it. David then brings up a connection with Star Wars that everyone understands. Anna talks about how in Frozen, Hans turning out to be evil is peripeteia. 

We then read out aloud the play from pages 152-163.

• Peripeteia- p154 when the messenger reveals Polybus was not Oedipus’s father
• “...Polybus was no kin to you in blood.”
• We talk about irony in the sense that Oedipus still refuses to realize that he is Laius’s son, instead he thinks Jocasta fears him knowing the truth because he is lowborn. To us, that’s just dramatic irony at its fullest
• We see anagnorisis after a very long period of time, where Oedipus finally sees the truth and runs off