Lesson Plan: Understanding Confucian Relationships

Synopsis: Students learn about Confucius' 5 Basic Relationships and compare them to relationshiops in American society. I use this as the beginning of a unit on Chinese literature, but this lesson plan could also be used in a history or social studies class. This lesson plan is adapted from Kirsten Larson's first lesson plan at http://www.globaled.org/chinaproject/confucian.html. Background information about Confucius and his 5 relationships are available by following the link.

Time Allotment: a 45-50 minute class period

Supplies: none

Procedures:

• Briefly explain who Confucius was. Write his 5 relationships on the board in this order: ruler-subject, father-son, elder brother-younger brother, husband-wife, friend-friend.
• Point out that the only available role for women was wife.
• Explain that the relationships are listed in order of their importance. Ruler-Subject and Father-Son are nearly equal and modeled after each other. If two relationships came into conflict, the first relationship on the list is most important. (For example, if your older brother asked you to do something your father disapproved of, your father's opinion would be most important.)
• Ask the students to rank the relationships in order of importance to them. In small groups or a class, students discuss the reasons for their responses. (This made a fabulous class discussion which provoked an interesting argument about whether spouses or parents should be the most important relationship in our society.)
• Next, read students some excerpts from Confucius' writings about each relationship (You can find this by clicking on Lesson 1 at the link above.) Students discuss what the quote reveals about each relationship during Confucius' time.
• Finally, divide the class into groups of 3-4. Each group should be assigned 1 relationship. They must write their own version of The Analects, writing 5 "commandments" for how modern-day American people should behave in their assigned relationship. (Sample response: Husbands must respect that their wives are their emotional and intellectual equals and should ask their advice in making decisions.) Students share and discuss their commandments.

Lesson Plan: The Story Tree

Synopsis: Students use the metaphor of a tree to diagram key literary and plot devices for a novel or short story. This makes an excellent review activity before a test, or a good break in the middle of a long novel.

Supplies: White paper; crayons, colored pencils, or markers

Time Allotment: 90-100 minutes if you want the students to complete in class, half that if you want them to finish as homework.

Procedures:

• Write the following quotation on the board: “Telling a story…is like seeing a great uprooted tree: the nobility of its trunk, the grandeur of its branches, the strength of its naked roots.” (Dai Sijie, Balzac & The Little Chinese Seamstress)
• Make a list of parts of a tree: roots, trunk, branches, leaves, fruits
• Ask students to match the following literary elements to a part of the tree: cultural/historical inspirations (roots); key plot events (trunk), characters & their characteristics (branches); figurative language, symbolism, word choice (leaves); overall meaning (fruits)
• Focus students on a novel or short story you have read in class. Ask them to draw a tree for that story, labeling each part of the tree with appropriate language or quotations from the story.
• A Powerpoint explaining the project, including a completed example, can be downloaded from http://tulsagrad.ou.edu/japanresources/new%20curriculum.htm (Scroll down to "high school" section and select the last link on the list, "The Strory Tree: Using Metaphor to Understand Literature.")