The devil—and the truth—is in the details. As ninth graders approach the ending of Sophocles' Oedipus the King, they analyze the words of the Messenger and apply these details to the central ideas of fate and prophecy.

Concepts

oedipus, sophocles, greek tragedies, greek dramas, central ideas, literary analysis, textual evidence

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Display the text on a whiteboard to demonstrate how to annotate and highlight details
• Have individuals jot down predictions for the end of the play based on textual evidence

Classroom Considerations

• The 14th lesson in a 20-part series
• You can find the assessment tools (rubric and checklist), as well as the evidence collection tools, in the module overview and previous lessons in the unit

Pros

• Encourages critical thinking and literary analysis
• Incorporates vocabulary skills, such as context clues and synthesis, into the homework assignment and class discussions

Cons

• None

Common Core

RL.9-10.2 RL.9-10.5 W.9-10.9.a L.9-10.4.a L.9-10.4.b