Read the full text of Shaw's comedy, Arms and the Man. This, like most of Shaw's plays, gains much by being read rather than seen.

The 12th grade learning experience consists of 7 mostly month-long units aligned to the Common Core State Standards, with available course material for teachers and students easily accessible online. Over the course of the year there is a steady progression in text complexity levels, sophistication of writing tasks, speaking and listening activities, and increased opportunities for independent and collaborative work. Rubrics and student models accompany many writing assignments.Throughout the 12th grade year, in addition to the Common Read texts that the whole class reads together, students each select an Independent Reading book and engage with peers in group Book Talks. Language study is embedded in every 12th grade unit as students use annotation to closely review aspects of each text. Teacher resources provide additional materials to support each unit.

The laws that govern and the social norms that regulate society are not always fair, legal, moral, or ethical. What is a person to do about all this injustice? What are the hazards of righting injustices or changing social norms? And what are the dangers of doing nothing?

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read and annotate Antigone, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” and Pygmalion.
Students write a literary analysis showing the effect of social class or the law on a character’s life.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

How do social class and legal institutions shape literary characters’ lives (and presumably our lives)?
How does social class affect a person in dealing with the law (protect a person, hurt a person)?
How is social class determined in America and in other places in the world?

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT: Cold Read

During this unit, on a day of your choosing, we recommend you administer a Cold Read to assess students’ reading comprehension. For this assessment, students read a text they have never seen before and then respond to multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. The assessment is not included in this course materials.

In this lesson, students will continue reading, annotating, and discussing Pygmalion. Then students will reread and focus on the “at-home” episode in act 3.

The purpose of this second Benchmark Assessment (Cold Write) is to determine what students know about informational writing. Students will respond to a writing prompt, and you will score results as a measure of progress in subsequent assessments. Then students will continue the discussion of Hardy’s poem. They’ll also resume reading, writing about, and discussing Pygmalion.

In this lesson, you'll learn about the requirements for a Character Analysis Essay that will be due at the end of the unit. Then you'll continue reading, annotating, and discussing Pygmalion.In this lesson, students learn about the requirements for a Character Analysis Essay that will be due at the end of the unit. Then they will continue reading, annotating, and discussing Pygmalion.

In this lesson, students will resume reading, annotating, discussing, and writing about Pygmalion. In particular, they’ll focus on a conversation between Professor Higgins and Alfred Doolittle.

In this lesson, students continue reading, annotating, and discussing Pygmalion. Students will focus on Liza’s anger toward Higgins and Doolittle’s remarks about America.

In this lesson, students review the events of act 3 in Pygmalion. Then students write about social class issues in the play.

In this lesson, students write about and discuss how Shaw’s play deals with issues of social class. Then students will meet with their Independent Reading Group about their books.

Lesson OverviewIn this lesson, students will read Thomas Hardy’s poem, “The Ruined Maid,” and work in small groups to paraphrase sentences in the poem. They will also begin to draw connections between the poem and Pygmalion.

In this lesson, students read and discuss two poems and their authors’ use of irony. Then they’ll continue reading, annotating, and discussing Pygmalion.

Site has over 60 links to authors, periodicals, literary background, theater and Irish science fiction.

This Nobel Foundation profile of writer George Bernard Shaw is organized into the following sections: "Presentation Speech," "Biography," and "Other Resources."