Limelight TEACHER LITERARY & CURRICULUM GUIDE 2008-2009
BY
RICHARD N.
GOODWIN DIRECTED BY
EDWARD
HALL
SCENIC AND COSTUME DESIGN BY
FRANCIS
O’CONNOR AMERICAN PREMIERE March 6 - April 5, 2009 Boston University Theatre HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY IN RESIDENCE AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY
huntington theatre company in residence at boston university Peter DuBois
Michael Maso
Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director
Managing Director
STAFF This Teacher Literary and Curriculum Guide was prepared for the Huntington Theatre Company by Marisa Jones, Education Consultant With contributions by Donna Glick, Director of Education Lynne Johnson, Associate Director of Education
Two Men of Florence by Richard N. Goodwin Directed by Edward Hall Scenic & Costume Design by Francis O’Connor Table of Contents 1
Synopsis
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The “Challenge Constantly Renewed: “ The Life of Richard N. Goodwin
Scott Horstein, Freelance Dramaturg, on faculty at American Musical and Dramatic Academy
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Making Paths Through the Heavens
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Men of Science, Men of Faith
Meg Wieder, Education Department Manager
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A Kinder, Gentler Inquisition?
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Italy, the Renaissance, and Religious Conflict
Alexandra Smith, Professional Intern
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Audience Etiquette
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Characters & Objectives
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Preparation for Two Men of Florence
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Mastery Assessment
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Open Response & Writing Assignments
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Media Assessment
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Related Works and Resources
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Lesson Plans
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For Further Exploration
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Handout 1: Vocabulary
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Handout 2: A Scientific Revolution — Timeline from Copernicus to Newton
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Handout 3: The Great Debate
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Curriculum Framework Ties
Charles Haugland, Stone Literary Fellow
Melissa Wagner-O’Malley, Layout
PRODUCTION SPONSOR
PROMOTIONAL SPONSOR
SYNOPSIS
Two Men of Florence T
he year is 1600, and the Roman Inquisition is persecuting philosophers and scientists whose theories clash with Church teachings about the precise nature of God’s universe. In Pisa, the great experimental physicist Galileo Galilei is pioneering the use of the telescope to prove the theory of late Danish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, whose controversial theory holds that the Earth revolves around the sun. This opposes the prevailing theory of ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, supported by the Church, that the sun revolves about God’s great Earth. The thoughtful and influential Cardinal Maffeo Barberini sees a kindred spirit in Galileo and befriends him, warning Galileo not to antagonize Barberini’s colleagues with his theories. But Galileo soon falls into a snare laid by his enemy, Father Tomasso Caccini, a wellplaced churchman who objects when Galileo invokes alternative readings of Scripture to buttress Copernicus’s theory. Barberini tries to help Galileo but is limited by his devotion to the Church. When Caccini draws Galileo into a public debate on the subject, the aging but powerful Cardinal Bellarmine admonishes Galileo for abuse of Scripture. Satisfied, Bellarmine no longer sees the need for a written injunction against Galileo publishing on Copernicanism; Bellarmine orders the unused injunction destroyed, but Caccini keeps it handy to use against Galileo in the future. In 1623, Pope Gregory XV dies, and Barberini becomes Pope Urban VIII. Galileo obtains permission from his enlightened old friend, now the new Pope, to publish a philosophical dialogue about the Copernican theory; however, because of his religious conviction, Urban requires that Galileo balance the dialogue with arguments in favor of Aristotle as well. Eight years later, Galileo completes the dialogue, but in his zealous quest for the truth he has gone too far and, in fact, completely refuted the Church’s view. Urban feels that his friend has betrayed him and fears that he himself has disserved his God in his handling of the affair. Urban’s nephew, Cardinal Francesco Barberini, obtains the unissued and supposedly destroyed publishing injunction from Caccini, and revives it by placing it in the Inquisition’s official file on Galileo. This subterfuge means that Galileo seems to have violated a longstanding injunction against publishing, so the Inquisition halts the presses. Galileo bravely goes to Rome to challenge Urban and the Inquisition. His beloved daughter Maria, his most ardent supporter, dies from grief over Galileo’s ordeal. The Inquisition forces Galileo to recant his Copernicanism, and sentences him to house arrest for the remainder of his life. – SH Moon drawing by Galileo, 1609
Limelight Literary and Curriculum 2008-2009
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THE “CHALLENGE CONSTANTLY RENEWED”
The Life of Richard N. Goodwin A prominent R speechwriter for
ichard N. Goodwin has been a major presence over the past four decades as a relentless and probing commentator on American society and the challenges of liberal democracy. Susan Jenks in Biography News characterized him as “a gifted wordsmith with far-reaching intellectual talents who helped to shape policies and attitudes in the governing process.” Prominent in the administrations of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, Goodwin was, in the words of The Washington Post writer Jim Naughton, “adviser and speech writer for our last generation of charismatic liberal leaders.” Born December 7, 1931, in Boston, he attended Brookline High School and Tufts University, graduating first in his class from Harvard Law School in 1958, and serving as president of the Harvard Law Review. Early is his career, Goodwin became special counsel to the Legislative Oversight Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives, which led to his involvement in the 1959 “Twenty One” quiz show scandal. This early television game show had a huge impact on American society, and its recurring champion Charles van Doren, the charismatic scion of a leading literary family, attained astonishing celebrity. When the show was accused of fraud, Goodwin helped lead the Congressional investigation. He uncovered a system in which the show’s producers would pay challengers to take a dive and let van Doren win, and even went so far as to tell van Doren in advance what questions he would be asked. The revelation of the scandal marked a turning point in an American society increasingly driven by television and the media, and trading on insidious notions of heroism and triumph. Goodwin remained at the historical center of his era. The “Twenty One” scandal brought him to the attention of Senator John F. Kennedy, who hired him as speechwriter for his Presidential campaign. Goodwin served in a number of posts in Kennedy’s 2
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JFK and political commentator turns his attention to playwriting.
Richard N. Goodwin
administration, then, following Kennedy’s assassination, became a special assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson. Johnson launched an epochal set of domestic policy initiatives combating poverty and racial inequality, which Goodwin is credited as naming the “Great Society” program. In a historic 1964 address at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Johnson used the term to capture the hopes of the era: The Great Society is not a safe harbor, a resting place, a final objective, a finished work. It is a challenge constantly renewed, beckoning us toward a destiny where the meaning of our lives matches the marvelous products of our labor. Despite the hope of the Great Society, Goodwin left the White House in 1965 out of disillusionment with Johnson’s promotion of the Vietnam War. He later served as speechwriter for the presidential campaigns of
Robert F. Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, and Edmund Muskie, and bore witness at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles when the younger Kennedy was assassinated during his 1968 presidential campaign. Goodwin had already begun publishing political commentary, and now retired from politics to pursue writing full time. His treatise The American Condition (1974) offered a stark view of an American society suffering from a “pathology” of bureaucracies. In his review for the The Washington Post Book World, Joseph Duffy highlighted the complexity and passion of Goodwin’s work, explaining that that “Richard Goodwin offers no heroic call for a new exertion of the will or program for a ‘rebirth of the nation.’ His understanding is far more realistic and his analysis too careful and honest for that kind of conclusion.” In Remembering America: A Voice From the Sixties (1988), one of his most discussed books, Goodwin reflects on his tenure as speechwriter for Kennedy and Johnson. He offers a cautionary tale about arrogance, hero worship, and the heady world of high office, and calls for a return to the lost ideals of the 1960s. One of the chapters from Remembering America describes Goodwin’s involvement in the “Twenty One” game
show investigation, and became the basis for Robert Redford’s 1994 film Quiz Show, which Goodwin co-produced and which prominently featured him as a character, played by actor Rob Morrow. The movie won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film, and was nominated for numerous others, including the Academy Award for Best Picture. Promises to Keep: A Call for a New American Revolution (1992) is a sweeping survey of the challenges facing contemporary American society, along with Goodwin’s proposals for addressing them. Former governor of California Jerry Brown read an advanced copy of the book and it significantly influenced his platform in his 1992 presidential campaign.
Goodwin’s other work includes regular contributions to Rolling Stone and The New Yorker; The Sower’s Seed: A Tribute to Adlai Stevenson (1965); Triumph or Tragedy: Reflections on Vietnam (1966); and A History of the United States (1984), co-authored with Gerald J. Goodwin. Two Men of Florence is Goodwin’s first play, and received its world premiere under the title The Hinge of the World at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford, England, with Edward Hall directing. Hall has had his own starry career; he is son of famed director Sir Peter Hall, and is artistic director of the award-winning Propeller Theatre — an allmale Shakepeare company that tackles the Bard in imaginatively experimental ways.
“People come to the theatre to be excited and uplifted,” Hall notes, “I want to inspire my audience” — when Hall paired with Goodwin for the premiere of Two Men of Florence, the critics concurred with Hall’s aims. The Wokingham Times described it as “theatre entertainment at its best” and praised Goodwin’s “crackling script.” The Surrey Mirror described the play as “terrifyingly realistic,” and the West Sussex Gazette described it as “a feast for the mind, one that is bound to set you thinking. This isn’t dry historical drama. It’s a moment in history brought to life in its full passion and power.” Goodwin and Hall re-team for the Huntington’s production this season for the play’s American premiere. – SH
Making Paths Through the Heavens Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Galileo Galilei was a hugely influential figure in the scientific revolution that changed the way Western civilization regarded nature. As Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) said, referring in part to Galileo, “If I have seen further than others, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.” In Galileo’s genius for experimentation, the swinging of ceiling lamps in the Cathedral of Pisa inspired theories about oscillation and time. The dropping of objects from the top of the leaning tower of Pisa inspired his law of falling bodies, which states that bodies of varying mass fall at the same rate. Galileo’s basic principle of relativity stated that the laws of physics are the same in any system that is moving at a constant speed in a straight line, regardless of its particular speed or direction. This would form the basis of Einstein’s theories of relativity four hundred years later.
Pope Urban VIII (1568-1644) Maffeo Barberini was born to a well-placed Florentine family, and following his education began his rise through the secular and religious administration, culminating in his papacy as Urban VIII (1623-1644). Primarily remembered as the persecutor of Galileo, Urban promoted Catholic foreign missions and abolished slavery in missions in South America, rewrote Catholic hymns, and built great monuments in Rome. However, his unprecedented nepotism and enormous military expenditures impoverished the Church, and his transparently political handling of the Thirty Year’s War (1618-1648), sometimes against Catholic interests, definitively diminished Papal authority in Europe. Upon Urban’s death, his bust in Rome was destroyed by an angry crowd.
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) Born in Poland to a well-to-do family, Copernicus (in Polish, Mikolaj Kopernik) lived with his uncle, a bishop, after his own father’s death, and was educated both in Poland and in Italy in mathematics and the arts and sciences. Copernicus returned to Poland to become a canon, or administrator, in a cathedral. He was not the first to propose a heliocentric model for the universe, but he was the first to work out a complete model for it. Copernicus hesitated to publish his theory for fear of the possible reaction, and his groundbreaking book De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, or The Revolution of the Heavenly Orbs, only appeared in the year of his death. – SH
Limelight Literary and Curriculum 2008-2009
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Galileo
Men of Science, Men of Faith T
he dispute between the Church and Galileo might seem to us today to be a case of irrational religion trumping rational science. Yet, as we come to understand through the world of Richard N. Goodwin’s play, no scientist is completely rational or objective. By examining Galileo’s work closely, we can see how his science, like that of his fellow astronomers, mathematicians, and physicists, was as much an act of faith as anything else. Does the sun revolve around the Earth, or does the Earth revolve about the sun? Aristotle’s theory corresponded with the 4
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Church’s interpretation of certain key phrases in the Bible. In Joshua 10:12-13, for example, Joshua asks God to halt the sunset and extend the light of the day: “So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.” The prevailing Church interpretation of this passage in Galileo’s time was that God moved the sun while He held the Earth stationary (also known as terracentrism). Galileo, however, believed instead in the model proposed by churchman and mathematician Nicolaus Copernicus, which suggested that the Earth moved
while the sun remained stationary (also known as heliocentrism). Science and history have since proven them correct. How did Galileo reach his conclusion? Despite Galileo’s best efforts at scientific objectivity, his choice of Copernicanism was a personal one, based on a combination of scientific investigation and religious faith. Both the Church and Galileo agreed that humans could not directly sense whether the earth was moving or not, so evidence for Aristotelianism or Copernicanism would have to come from observing whether earthly objects acted as if the Earth were moving or not. Yet Galileo’s experimental arguments proved, at best, inconclusive. For example, his telescopic observations of the moon’s surface and Jupiter’s moons helped establish that, as opposed to being smooth, perfect, and isolated celestial bodies, they were rough, changing, and had local satellites. This helped establish that the Earth was perhaps more like other planets than like the sun. Similarly, Galileo’s theory of basic relativity established that Copernicanism could not be disproved by the effect of the Earth’s supposed stillness, or supposed motion, on falling objects. Neither of these empirical cases definitively proved Aristotelianism or Copernicanism one way or the other. Yet for Galileo these empirical cases all pointed towards Copernicanism. Galileo also resorted to what scholar David B. Wilson calls “mathematical-aesthetic rationalism,” arguing that Copernicus’s heliocentric theory was inherently elegant, because it required only a few objects to move at high speeds around the sun. In contrast, Aristotle’s terracentric theory required hundreds of objects — from the sun to the planets to far-off stars — all to move at even greater speeds in their huge orbits around the Earth. Thus, despite his powerful arguments, Galileo could at no point prove that he was correct, and on some level, his belief in Copernicanism was undoubtedly an intellectual leap of faith — the exact kind of leap of faith that the Church saw as presumptuous. Galileo’s conflict with the Church was not a case of him opposing faith with reason. Rather, it was a case of two different schools of faith colliding.
Tycho Brahe’s System of the World
Galileo believed that his God had given humans the gift of reason and perception in order to study nature and encounter divinity, and in matters of nature, human reason was to be trusted over literal interpretations of Scripture. Cardinal Bellarmine, the cardinal who admonished Galileo for interpreting scripture in his conflict with Father Tomasso Caccini, agreed with Galileo. If a compelling theory were to discredit Aristotelianism, Bellarmine agreed that the Church would have to reinterpret that key verse from the book of Joshua accordingly; however, in the Church’s view, Copernicanism was not a compelling theory, and Galileo’s zeal in promoting it seemed particularly arrogant and perverse when Copernicanism conflicted so obviously with everyday human experience, and with the revealed word of God. In
the words of scholar David B. Wilson, “The Church preferred to listen to God rather than think like God.” This is why Urban insisted that Galileo give equal weight to Aristotelianism and Copernicanism in The Dialogue of the Two Great World Systems, the study that Galileo proposed to write. To promote one system over the other would be tantamount to claiming to know the mind of God. As Urban says late in play, such a presumption would make God “unnecessary.” Other scientists, the greatest, most forward-thinking of the time, made leaps of faith as well — but didn’t agree with Galileo. Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), the Danish Protestant astronomer, collected staggeringly meticulous and accurate astronomical data that would help forward the Galilean cause. Yet Brahe subscribed to Aristotle’s
theory, largely because he simply didn’t see evidence in his daily life that the Earth was moving. Johann Kepler (1571-1630), the Protestant Czech mathematician, daringly proved that the planets, God’s perfect celestial bodies, actually travel in imperfect, elliptical orbits. Kepler did subscribe to Copernicus’s theory — but only for religious reasons, because only the brilliant sun would make a suitable home for God. The greatest scientists of Galileo’s age followed their faith wherever it led them, sometimes in direct contradiction of the Church, and sometimes in direct contradiction of the laws of the universe. Idiosyncratic combinations of science and religion led these figures to explore unheard-of theories, and some of these, the ones that endured, have revolutionized the way that we see our world. – SH Limelight Literary and Curriculum 2008-2009
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A Kinder, Gentler Inquisition?
The trial of Galileo
T
he modern image of the Inquisition is of a bloodthirsty, fanatical institution of repression that terrorized Europe. While there is no doubt that the Inquisition destroyed religious and intellectual freedom, recent work by historians such as Edward M. Peters and Henry Kamen, together with files recently made available by the Vatican, have led to a contemporary reassessment. In the early days of Christianity, the bishop of the Roman Church naturally gained power by association with the Roman emperor. Following the collapse of the Roman Empire, this supreme bishop, or Pope, had religious authority over Catholics throughout Europe and also served as secular monarch of the Roman city-state known as the Papal States. As the papacy gained power, it struggled mightily with the monarchs of Europe to prevent them from making the learned, powerful churchmen part of their courts and secular administrations. The papacy triumphed in this struggle in 1077, with Pope Gregory VII forcing Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV to crawl through the snow at Canossa and beg forgiveness for appropriating the Church’s officials for his own court.
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Who persecutes heresy? The Church also struggled against the monarchs over the matter of heresy. Heresy was, in fact, a crime against the state, as monarchs of the time asserted the divine right of kings, claiming that God Himself had chosen them to rule their subjects. For a subject to challenge any aspect of Catholic doctrine was to challenge the prevailing notion of God, and by implication to challenge the monarch’s legitimacy. Secular authorities had little legal training, yet they took it upon themselves to rule on matters of doctrine and to punish viciously subjects whom they deemed heretics. The persecution of heresy became a weapon of the state, and the Church increasingly risked losing control of its authority over Catholic doctrine. In response to this, Gregory IX established the Inquisition in 1231. Each city-state had an Inquisition chapter, a delegation of Church authorities devoted their time to sniffing out Catholics who strayed from official doctrine. Run by churchmen with theological and legal training, the Inquisition evolved
medieval legal practice. While the Inquisition did not allow those accused of heresy to know the names of witnesses testifying against them, the Inquisition did allow the accused to name her known enemies and, on the basis of that, have testimony thrown out. Contrary to the popular images of the Inquistion, modern scholarship reveals that the Inquisition interested itself more in recovering those it considered lost sheep than it did in destroying them. If convicted heretics repented, they usually received relatively light sentences of prayer. Some historians estimate that the Inquisition saved thousands of lives by taking the prosecution of heresy out of the hands of the monarch. Still, the accused rarely had recourse to favorable witnesses or legal advisors, who would have feared guilt by association. Convicted heretics who did not repent were excommunicated by the Inquisition then handed to the secular authorities for punishment, which could mean confiscation of property, torture, or burning at the stake.
The Spanish Inquisition The terrifying image of the Inquisition in the modern imagination stems largely from a separate incarnation, the Spanish Inquisition. The Italian states were the possession of Spain during the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1551, King Ferdinand of Spain demonstrated his power over Rome by instituting exactly what Rome had fought against — an Inquisition run by a monarch. King Ferdinand planned to combat the seeds of Islam left behind by centuries of occupation by Muslims from North Africa. He also planned to discover Jews who had converted to Catholicism to avoid anti-Semitism. The initial years of the Spanish Inquisition featured the auto-da-fe (act of faith), huge public ceremonies where fanatical clergy excommunicated convicted heretics, after which the secular authorities burned the excommunicated at the stake. Thousands of Jews, Muslims, and Catholics perished this way.
The Roman Inquisition In order to combat Spain’s influence and prevent the takeover of local Inquisitions by city-state monarchs, Pope Paul III established in 1542 the Congregation of the Holy Office, an oversight body based in Rome that reinvigorated the Inquisition under firm papal control. Known as the Roman Inquisition, it focused primarily on academic and intellectual heresy — like that committed by Galileo — rather than on straying citizens, and became a means for the Church to police its own clergy. Few cases ended in capital punishment unless they directly contradicted basic doctrines such as the Virgin birth or the full divinity of Christ. And, as Cardinal Firenzuola mentions late in Two Men of Florence play, torture was not something that this Inquisition undertook lightly. – SH
The terrifying image of the Inquisition in the modern imagination stems largely from a separate incarnation, the Spanish Inquisition...an Inquisition run by a monarch.
Italy, the Renaissance, and Religious Conflict Italy as a unified nation did not exist until the late 19th century. After the fall of the Roman Empire in 5th century BCE, the small patch of surrounding territory still belonging to Rome became known as the Papal States, with the Pope as its monarch. By Galileo’s time, nearly a thousand years later, the Italian-speaking peoples had grouped themselves into rival, local, independent states, each centered on a commercial city ruled by a dominant family. The relative stability and freedom of these city-states combined with the rediscovery of the works of ancient Greece and Rome to give birth to the Italian Renaissance – a flowering of arts, culture, and thought that spurred Western civilization into the modern age. Spain, at the time a mighty power, controlled these Italian republics and made them pawns in the religious wars among the great rulers of Europe. In 1517, the German priest Martin Luther famously nailed his Ninety-Five Theses for the reform of the Church to the door of the cathedral in Wittenberg. Luther’s protest movement against the Church, now known as the Reformation, responded to the Church’s history of abuse and corruption, and argued that an official Church – and even a priesthood – was unnecessary for the individual to commune with God. Luther’s movement spread like wildfire, leading to two centuries of religious wars between the Catholic powers of Europe and those nations that officially adopted Protestantism. The most intense of these wars took place during Galileo’s lifetime. The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), in some ways Europe’s first “world war,” devastated the continent in a complicated series of conflicts. The war pitted the Holy Roman Empire (Spain, Austria, and the Catholic German states) against a shifting coalition composed of the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, France (although France was Catholic), and the Protestant German states. Italy was spared some of the worse devastation, but the endless conflict, largely fought by scavenging mercenaries, led to widespread famine and disease and decimated Europe’s population. France would eventually emerge as the continent’s new great power, and the Church’s political influence would wane. – SH
Limelight Literary and Curriculum 2008-2009
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BU Theatre by T. Charles Erickson
Audience Etiquette Because many students have not had the opportunity to view live theatre, we are including an audience etiquette section with each literary/curriculum guide. Teachers, please spend time on this subject since it will greatly enhance your students’ experience at the theatre. 1. How does one respond to a live performance of a play, as opposed to when seeing a film at a local cinema? What is the best way to approach viewing a live performance of a play? What things should you look and listen for? 2. What is the audience’s role during a live performance? How do you think audience behavior can affect an actor’s performance? 3. What do you know about the theatrical rehearsal process? Have you ever participated in one as an actor, singer, director, or technical person? 4. How do costumes, set, lights, sound and props enhance a theatre production?
Galileo facing the Roman Inquisition, 1857; painting by Cristiano Banti
BACKGROUND
& Objectives Please use the following synopsis and objectives to inform your teaching of Two Men of Florence curriculum.
G
alileo Galilei considers himself a devout Catholic, but his quest for knowledge leads to scientific breakthroughs that contradict some of the church’s fundamental teachings. With the blessing of Pope Urban VIII, Galileo writes a dialogue that he hopes will persuade fellow Catholics to see his discoveries as a reflection of the universe’s divine order, not as a threat to their religious faith. But his dialogue offends the Pope, igniting a battle between these two great men of Florence for the hearts and minds of the people. In the end, this battle costs Galileo and those closest to him their happiness and their freedom.
OBJECTIVES Students will: 1. Identify key issues in Two Men of Florence including: • Science vs. religion • Personal relationships and public ambitions • Leap of faith • Truth and consequences 2. Relate themes and issues in the play to their own lives. 3. Analyze the themes and issues within the historical and social context of the play. 4. Participate in hands-on activities that enhance understanding of the production. 5. Evaluate the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of Two Men of Florence.
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PREPARATION FOR
Personal Relationships and Public Ambitions
TWO MEN OF FLORENCE Note to Teachers: Use the following ideas to engage your class in thinking about Two Men of Florence and its major themes.
RICHARD N. GOODWIN Richard N. Goodwin, who wrote Two Men of Florence, began his career as a lawyer. But it didn’t take long for him to find work in the entertainment industry. In 1959, Goodwin served as special counsel for a congressional investigation of the popular game show “Twenty One.” As Goodwin explains in his book Remembering America, the game show was rigged so that the same player would emerge victorious week after week, much to the amazement of the television audience. This scandal became the basis for the 1994 film Quiz Show. Do you agree that a “fixed” game show warrants the attention of Congress? What about a reality TV shows that turns out to be scripted? When is it okay for artists to mix fact and fiction? Beginning with Mr. Goodwin’s service as special counsel for the congressional investigation of the quiz show, create a time line reflecting the author’s life’s work. Include significant political and social events which may have influenced him in the timeline.
stayed at this institution for more than twenty years, but his philosophy diverged from that of his teacher. “Plato is dear to me,” Aristotle famously said, “but dearer still is the truth.” Aristotle’s work became an academic cornerstone of the Catholic Church, and the subject of Galileo’s close scrutiny. Continue your research of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Why were Aristotle’s views, rather than the views of Socrates and Plato, embraced by the Church? How were they different?
THE THIRTY YEARS’ WAR The last of the epic religious battles in Europe were fought between 1618 and 1648, a time aptly named the Thirty Years’ War. The fighting, which took place primarily in Germany, resulted in a massive loss of life (in some regions two-thirds of the population was killed) and the widespread destruction of architecture and landscape. Pope Urban VIII was a driving force behind the war. But when he died, the Church’s willingness to take land by force in order to expand its territory seemed to die with him. Continue your research of Urban’s involvement in the Thirty Years’ War. Did his military efforts increase the Church’s power? Did they make him more popular? What mistakes, if any, might he have made?
SOCRATES, PLATO & ARISTOTLE Galileo was not the first great philosopher and scientist to put his ideas on paper in the form of a dialogue. Plato also wrote many of his works in that form. Most of Plato’s works focus on the life and teachings of his teacher, Socrates. Much like Galileo, Socrates was condemned for spreading “corrupting” ideas. He accepted his punishment, death by hemlock poisoning, and rejected suggestions of bribing officials or attempting an escape. Socrates stood by his philosophy and embraced his death sentence as an act of faith in the democratic system that he had long advocated. Plato was devastated by the loss of his teacher and the injustice of his death. Plato went on to establish the Academy, at which Aristotle was a student. Aristotle
KEY ISSUES Science vs. Religion At its core, Two Men of Florence is a play about the intersection between science and religion, and how individuals respond when scientific discoveries seem to conflict with their deeply held religious views. This issue is not just of historical interest, but continues to be relevant today. Can you think of any recent scientific discoveries that have challenged religious orthodoxy? Make a list of examples. How might the Obama Administration’s policies differ from the Bush administration’s policies with regard to matters of religion and science? Must science and religion always be at odds?
Two Men of Florence is also a play about the intersection between personal relationships and public ambitions. Pope Urban, for example, feels so betrayed and politically threatened by Galileo’s dialogue that he banishes his old friend and loyal counsel, Ciampoli, who approved the dialogue. He puts ambition ahead of friendship. Galileo feels that he has done the same thing to his daughter Maria, who spent her childhood in a convent while Galileo pursued and promoted new scientific ideas. Maria, in contrast, puts her love for her father ahead of her devotion to the Catholic Church, supporting him even as he promotes ideas that the church condemns. Should either man regret his decision to put public ambitions ahead of personal relationships? Does it matter that, unlike Maria, they were major figures with the power to influence human history?
Leap of Faith With the benefit of hindsight, it is easy for us to see that many of Galileo’s supposedly “heretical” ideas were factually correct. At the time, however, even Galileo did not always have hard proof of his ideas. For example, Galileo relied partly on his intuition in arguing for the Copernican view that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Galileo, much like Pope Urban, was taking a leap of faith. The difference, however, is that Galileo looks forward to proving or disproving his scientific faith, whereas Pope Urban fears that future discoveries will leave no room for religious faith and may even “make God unnecessary.” How is religious faith different from a long-held scientific theory? What do they have in common?
Truth and Consequences Galileo is willing to sacrifice everything he has for the truth. Believing that “there cannot be two truths,” he submits to house arrest and censorship rather than promote what he regards as false ideas. Pope Urban, however, does not hold the truth in such high esteem. He says that “truth is modern prejudice,” forever shifting with public opinion. Who is right? Does Galileo’s belief that there is only one truth mean that we should censor those who speak falsely? Does Pope Urban’s belief that truth is always changing mean that we should allow competition among ideas by protecting freedom of speech? Limelight Literary and Curriculum 2008-2009
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MASTERY
Assessment ACT I 1. What is Giordano Bruno’s crime? How is he punished? 2. How does Galileo make money? 3. Who visits Galileo and his daughter, Maria? 4. What did Galileo invent, at least in part, and what does it do? 5. What radical idea does Galileo have about the Earth? Do Maria and Castelli accept this idea? 6. Why was Maria sent to the convent? 7. Who is Galileo’s “adversary”? 8. What is the cause of the “Holy War” in Europe? 9. What is Cardinal Barberini’s ambition? 10. According to Aristotle, which will land first: the heavy or light object? Why does Galileo think he’s wrong? 11. Which of Galileo’s inventions are the senators interested in buying? How will it be used? 12. Describe the inventions Galileo shows Barberini and Ciampoli.
21. What plan does Caccini make to destroy Galileo’s reputation? 22. What is the concern regarding Galileo’s trip to Rome to share his discoveries? 23. What does the Commissary General of the Inquisition decide about the case against Galileo? 24. How does Barberini advise Galileo during the festivities in his honor? 25. What is wrong with the Holy Father, Pope Gregory? 26. What is Bellarmine’s plan of action in order to stop Galileo’s famous teachings? Why is Galileo a threat to the church? 27. What does Bellarmine tell Firenzuola to do with the injunction against Galileo? 28. In order to escape the pressures of Rome, where does Galileo want to move with Maria? 29. Who has been chosen to replace Pope Gregory after his death? What name has he chosen?
ACT II
13. What did Galileo’s father prophesize about his future?
30. What gift does Galileo bring to the new pope?
14. Did Galileo marry Maria’s mother? What does Maria do for a living?
31. For what project does Galileo seek Pope Urban VIII’s permission?
15. Why is Galileo frustrated by the employment situation granted to him by the senators?
32. What gifts does Maria receive from Pope Urban?
16. What does Galileo discover in the sky while looking through his spyglass? 17. What part did Johannes Kepler play in Galileo’s great discovery?
Galileo’s tomb in the Basillica di Santa Croce, Florence; photo: Jenny Rollo
37. What does Landini predict will happen to the dialogue if Galileo is punished for its publication? 38. Why does Galileo decide he must go to Rome to face Pope Urban? 39. How is Francesco related to the pope? 40. Niccolini speaks with Pope Urban on Galileo’s behalf. How does he try to reason with the Pope, and is he successful? 41. How does Pope Urban punish Ciampoli? What is Ciampoli’s crime? 42. After hearing the unpleasant news from Niccolini about her father’s visit to Rome, what action does Maria take? 43. As a result of her grief and illness, what happens to Maria? Who shares this news with Galileo?
33. What title does the Pope offer for Galileo’s dialogue?
44. To what does Galileo confess to Firenzuola? What does he refuse to recant?
34. What are the names of the characters in Galileo’s dialogue and what are their particular roles?
45. Describe the punishment Pope Urban orders for Galileo.
19. Why is King Louis angry with Galileo?
35. Who read Galileo’s dialogue to ensure that he followed Pope Urban’s instructions?
46. What does Pope Urban command Galileo to examine under a microscope? How does this illustration help show Galileo’s threat to the Catholic Church?
20. What type of celebration is planned in Galileo’s honor?
36. What is Pope Urban’s reaction to the dialogue?
47. Where will Galileo live out the remainder of his life? Who brings him to this place?
18. Why does Cosimo feel compelled to offer Galileo a place in his court?
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OPEN RESPONSE & WRITING
Assignments OPEN RESPONSE ASSESSMENT Instructions to the students: Please answer the following as thoroughly as possible in a wellplanned and carefully written paragraph. Remember to use topic sentences and examples from the text. 1. The original title of this play was, The Hinge of the World: The Battle Between Galileo and His Holiness Urban VIII. Do you prefer its new title, Two Men of Florence? Why or why not? 2. How is Galileo’s daughter, Maria, his “hinge?” 3. Does Galileo knowingly betray Pope Urban by publishing the dialogue? 4. Do you think Urban is a good Pope? Does he follow his own laws? 5. Do you think Galileo is a good father? Do you think Maria is treated fairly? 6. Out of all the characters in the play, who is Galileo’s greatest enemy?
7. With a simple experiment, Galileo refutes Aristotle’s claim that heavier objects fall faster than lighter ones. Does it surprise you that Aristotle never conducted this experiment himself? 8. Giordano Bruno’s punishment was much more severe than Galileo’s. What accounts for the difference in treatment by the Holy Inquisition? 9. If Galileo were a rich man, not concerned with paying bills, do you think he would have achieved greater scientific progress?
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS 1. Does Galileo believe that he is a devout Catholic? Does he feel any guilt about the trouble he causes for the Church? 2. Citing examples from the text, explain why Urban believes Protestants (and Catholics who disagree with the Church’s doctrine) are a greater offense to God than Pagans or Atheists.
3. Pope Urban VIII acts to preserve the Church and its traditional teachings at all costs. But do you think he is at all persuaded by Galileo’s work? Why is Galileo a considerable threat to the Pope? 4. Despite being spared the “rack” or the “stake,” Galileo is very unhappy about the punishment he receives for his heretical beliefs. Why is house arrest comparable to a death-sentence in his mind? 5. Galileo, unlike many of his contemporaries, was “willing to change his views in accordance with his observation.” Renee Descartes, a French philosopher and scientist, did not trust his own senses, but like Galileo, was willing to put what he knew or thought he knew aside in order to make scientific progress. What is a “fact”? Is it possible for your senses to mislead you? 6. Select one of the following quotes and discuss it in essay form. “It is [God] who gave us our senses and the power of reason, surely not to mock and deceive our efforts to understand.” “The Church must be obeyed, not for its wisdom, but to sustain that union which is all we are given of the living Christ.” “Without power, right is just the whisper of desire.” “When you make men fools, you make them enemies.” “What an invention. This writing. The greatest in the story of this world. By a few simple symbols … to send one’s thoughts over vast intervals of space… across time…to let the dead speak.” 7. Do you think Pope Urban VIII was Galileo’s intellectual match? At any point in the play did he outwit Galileo?
Galileo en [Vincenzio] Viviani, 1892; painting by Tito Lessi
8. In this play, describe the separation of Church and the secular state. Who has more authority over citizens in a shared territory? Describe the relationship between Church and state leaders. Limelight Literary and Curriculum 2008-2009
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MEDIA ASSESSMENT The following exercises are interactive, handson challenges in Drama, Music, Design and Visual Art. They aim to give students a better understanding of the many tasks that contribute to a theatrical production.
CREATING CHARACTERIZATION Have each student choose a character from Two Men of Florence to portray. As if preparing for the role in rehearsal, ask students to answer the following questions about their characters: (a) What is my objective in the play, and which obstacles stand in my way? (b) How, if at all, does my character transform during the course of the play? (c) Are there any contradictions inherent in my character? (d) What do other characters think of my character, and what does my character think of them? In groups of two or three, ask students to select one short scene to present to the rest of their class. Two Men of Florence depicts largely male characters — gender of the actors does not need to be a factor in casting scenes.
Rehearse the scenes within groups. After the performances, leave time for questions and comments.
COSTUME AND SET DESIGN The historical events depicted in Two Men of Florence begin with the trial and execution of Giordano Bruno in 1600 at the Campo de Fiori in Rome. Although we cannot know for certain the exact exchange of words or all the details surrounding this event, we can make an educated guess about what the scene looked like. Prepare a costume plot and set design. Draw sketches or collect pictures (from magazines or websites) of costume ideas for Bruno, Bellarmine and Firenzuola (as well as additional cast members who will make up the “crowd.”) Costumes should reflect the time, location, and social status of the character. The Campo de Fiori is a real place — find pictures or photographs of what the plaza looks like. How can you recreate this geographical location on a stage? Set aside library time for your research.
MUSIC AND SOUND DESIGN Simon Slater is the composer for the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of Two Men of Florence. The music he created is known as a “celestial bodies soundscape” Prior to seeing the production, research traditional music played in Catholic worship during the 1600s in Italy as well as secular music of the period. Create your own celestial bodies soundscape. Many websites offer a listening sample of traditional music appropriate for use in the sound design of this play. Select a scene transition that you feel calls for a musical interlude (this break also allows time for costume changes and stage management to prepare for the next scene.) Choose a musical selection that best fits the tone and mood of the moment.
VISUAL ART What did Galileo see through his spyglass and under his microscope? Using a visual art medium (paint, clay, pencils, photography, etc.) create a picture that captures what he likely saw by use of these instruments. As an example, see his moon drawing on the first page of the literary guide.
Related Works and Resources To broaden your familiarity with Galileo Galilei or the key topics in the play, consult the following resources: Books Florence: The Golden Age, 1138-1737 (1998) by Gene Brucker The Bad Popes (2003) by E.R. Chamberlin Europe in Crisis: 1598-1648 (2001) by Geoffrey Parker Galileo’s Mistake: A New Look at the Epic Confrontation Between Galileo and the Church (2003) by Wade Rowland
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Frontispiece and title page of Galileo’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems
Descartes’ Bones (2008) by Russell Shorto
DVD Galileo’s Battle for the Heavens (2006) Nova.
Galileo’s Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love, (2000) by Dava Sobel
Web www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/galileo
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Lesson Plans Teachers’ note: Choose activities that are appropriate for your classroom period. All assignments are suggestions. Only a teacher knows his or her class well enough to determine the level and depth to which any piece of literature may be examined. ONE-DAY LESSON PLAN introduces students to the context and major themes of the production. DAY ONE - Introducing the Play 1. Distribute Mastery Assessment (P. 10) for Two Men of Florence for students to read before the performance and to review again after attending it. Optional: Distribute Handout 1: Vocabulary (P. 15) and ask students to define each word. A vocabulary test could be administered after viewing the play. Students should also review the Defined Terms (P. 16) before seeing the play. 2. Read the Synopsis (P. 1) of the play. Discuss other works students have studied with similar themes and issues. 3. If time allows, have students stage Act 1, Scene 1, the burning at the stake of the character, Bruno. FOUR-DAY LESSON PLAN introduces students to the production and then, after viewing the performance, asks them to think more critically about what they have seen. Includes time for class discussion and individual assessment. DAY ONE - Introducing the Play Same as Day One above; completed before seeing the production. DAY TWO - The Production Attend the performance at the Huntington Theatre Company. Homework: Students should answer the Mastery Assessment (P. 10) questions. DAY THREE - Follow-up Discussion Discuss Mastery Assessment answers in class. DAY FOUR - Test Individual Assessment: Choose either several questions from the Open Response (P. 11) or two questions from Writing Assignments (P. 11) for students to answer in one class period. Optional: Students may choose one of the For Further Exploration (P. 14) or Media Assessment (P. 12) tasks to complete for extra credit. SEVEN-DAY LESSON PLAN completely integrates Two Men of Florence into your schedule. Within seven school days, you can introduce the play, assign reading and vocabulary, and assess your students as individuals and in groups. Students will ideally view the play after completing Mastery Assessment questions. DAY ONE - Introducing the play Same as Day One above. Optional: Distribute Handout 1: Vocabulary (P. 15) due on Day Four. Homework: Read the Act One and answer corresponding Mastery Assessment (P. 10) questions. DAY TWO - Act One Discuss the first part of the play and answers to Mastery Assessment questions. Homework: Read Act Two and answer corresponding Mastery Assessment questions. Limelight Literary and Curriculum 2008-2009
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DAY THREE - Act Two Discuss the second half of the play and answers to Mastery Assessment questions. Optional: Complete Handout 1: Vocabulary (P. 15) for homework. DAY FOUR - Group work Complete Handout 3: The Great Debate (P. 17) Leave time for class discussion. Optional: Review Handout 1: Vocabulary. DAY FIVE - Attend Performance Optional: Students may choose to complete one of the For Further Exploration (P. 14) or Media Assessment (P. 12) tasks for extra credit. DAY SIX - Review/Preparation Students should answer the Open Response (P. 11) questions as preparation for their test the following day. DAY SEVEN - Test Individual Assessment: Choose two questions from the Writing Assignments (P. 11) for students to answer in one class period.
For Further Exploration Note to Teachers: The following ideas and questions can be used to further explore the text. They can be used as prompts for class discussion or additional writing assignments. 1. Pope Urban mentions the fact that the Catholic Church is taking bronze from the Pantheon to build four new domes for the Vatican City. Research the historical accuracy of this text. What happened to the architecture after the Roman Empire fell? How might Pope Urban’s extravagance cost the Catholic Church its power in Europe? 2. Renee Descartes, considered by many to be the father of modern philosophy, is most famous for his philosophy, “I think, therefore I am.” He finished writing his famous book, Treatise of Light, in 1633. At this time Galileo’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church. And as a result, Descartes chose to delay the publication of Treatise of Light. But why did Descartes make this decision? What was Treatise of Light about? Was Descartes surprised by Galileo’s conflict with the Roman Catholic Church? 3. Cardinal Barberini had ambitions of rising to power within the Catholic Church. He showed political savvy and acquired the proper credentials for the job. What is the procedure for replacing a pope? Describe the selection process. How is the world notified of the new leadership within the Church?
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4. Martin Luther is considered the Father of Protestantism, and his 95 Theses caused considerable problems for the Catholic Church. What theological challenges did Luther level at the Papacy? What was the Catholic Church’s response? 5. President Barack Obama on his first full day in office ordered the closing of Guantanamo Bay prison by the end of his first year in office. In his inaugural address he said, “we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.” How do you think the United States should handle individuals that threaten the security of our nation and want to challenge our democratic system? How might the imprisonment, torture and execution of dissidents be counterproductive, provoking enemies and creating martyrs for their cause? 6. Tycho Brahe, a famous Danish astronomer and nobleman, collected meticulous and accurate data regarding the movement of stars and planets. Johannes Kepler assisted Brahe in his work during 1600, and later used the information they gathered to develop the laws of planetary motion. The literary guide has a picture of Brahe’s System of the World (see P. 5). Describe Brahe’s system that is depicted here. 7. Research why 2009 is considered the International Year of Astronomy.
Name:_______________________________________________________
Date:________________________
Handout 1
VOCABULARY Abate
Enshrouded
Monastery
Acquiesce
Epitaph
Morass
Asylum
Ermine
Obsequious
Axiom
Excommunication
Omnipotent
Benediction
Fervor
Partisan
Bureaucrats
Fissure
Penance
Cassock
Flagrant
Pestilential
Celestial
Folly
Pious
Censure
Gaiety
Prostrate
Clement
Garb
Sacrilege
Concurrence
Gibe
Sluggard
Confer
Harlequin
Sovereignty
Conjecture
Heresy
Spyglass
Crescendo
Homage
Starlings
Decipher
Illustrious
Succession
Decree
Imbued
Sunder
Dogma
Imperil
Supplicate
Ducats
Ingenious
Sustenance
Dispensation
Intransigent
Tumult
Depravity
Lenient
Usurp
Edict
Luminous
Vehement
Enfeebled
Lute
Vignettes
Ennoble
Martyrdom
Zealous
Name:_______________________________________________________
Date:________________________
Handout 2
A SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION — TIMELINE FROM COPERNICUS TO NEWTON 1543
Nicolaus Copernicus publishes De Revolutionibus with a dedication to the Pope. He dies.
1572
Tycho Brahe observes supernova and becomes famous.
1576-97
Tycho plots positions of planets. Galileo Galilei does experiments in mechanics, becomes professor of mathematics at Pisa in 1589 at age 25.
1600
Johannes Kepler, 29, meets Tycho, 53, in Prague.
1601
Tycho dies. Kepler acquires data, and becomes the Imperial Mathematician.
1687
Newton publishes Principia (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) containing laws of motion and gravitation.
1727
Newton dies. Alexander Pope writes Nature and Nature’s laws lay hid in night; God said, Let Newton be! and all was light.
Based on the timeline created by J.S. Tenn of Sonoma State University.
1609
Kepler publishes Astronomia Nova (A New Astronomy). Galileo builds a telescope and observes the sky.
1610
Galileo publishes Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Messenger). Kepler defends it without having seen a telescope.
1616
Galileo travels from Florence to Rome to convert Church to Copernican system. As a result, Copernicus is put on Index of forbidden books and Galileo is prohibited from teaching or defending heliocentric model.
www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/PEOPLE/FACULTY/TENN/COPERNICANREVOLUTION.HTML
DEFINED TERMS & PLACES OF INTEREST Recognizing the following vocabulary will help improve student comprehension of the play. Ascension – the bodily ascending of Christ from Earth to Heaven. Heliocentrism – Theory that the Sun is at the center of the solar system. Heresy – the willful and persistent rejection of any article of faith by a baptized member of the Roman Catholic Church.
1619
Kepler publishes Harmonices Mundi (Harmony of the World).
Martyr – a person who is put to death or endures great suffering on behalf of any belief, principle, or cause.
1629-32
Galileo publishes Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. Five months after publication it is banned and Galileo summoned to Rome. Kepler dies in 1630.
Pizza San Marco – the place Barberini suggests Galileo flies to in Act 1, Scene 4.
1633
Galileo is convicted of disobedience, confined to house arrest, and forbidden to publish anything further.
1638
Galileo publishes Two New Sciences in Holland.
1642-43
Galileo dies. Isaac Newton is born.
1664-65
Plague closes Cambridge. Newton flees to the country and discovers laws of motion and gravity, invents calculus, and makes discoveries in optics.
1682
Santa Maria della Salute – the basilica the Senators can see from the telescope in Act 1, Scene 4. Santa Maria sopra Minerva – the convent where Galileo recites his confession at the end of the play. Sophist – Greek philosophers and teachers known for skillful manipulation rather than soundness of arguments. Spyglass – a small telescope.
Edmond Halley, with Newton’s aid, plots orbits of comets. He shows that the comet of 1682 is same as that of 1531 and 1607, and predicts its return in 1758.
Terracentrism – Theory that God moves the Sun while keeping the Earth stationary. Venice, Florence, and Rome are the three places the play takes place, with scenes in the vignettes (Act 1, Scene 5) taking place in France, and Prague as well.
Name:_______________________________________________________
Date:________________________
Handout 3
THE GREAT DEBATE Galileo hoped that The Dialogue of the Two Great World Systems would result in earnest debate between scientists and church leaders. But Galileo did not have the good fortune of a public debate. As Pope Urban VIII declares: “Trial! This is not a game for children.” In a just society or healthy legal system each side is allowed to state their case, even when one popular idea or desired outcome is dominant. HOT TOPIC DEBATE Galileo didn’t get the chance, but here’s your opportunity to show off your debating skills! Each team member is expected to participate.
STEP ONE: In groups of at least four, choose a topic worthy of debate (funding for stem cell research, government bailout of the auto industry, prayer in public schools, the debate over creation and evolution, etc.). TOPIC:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
STEP TWO: Divide the group equally into one PRO (defending) side and one CON (refuting) side. Prepare a two-minute opening statement for each side. Select one teammate to deliver it.
STEP THREE: Compile a list of three key questions, which you will ask the opposing side. Select one teammate to ask each question. Prepare answers for potential questions.
STEP FOUR: Prepare a brief closing argument. Select one teammate to deliver it.
STEP FIVE: Debate Time! Opening Statement – 2 minutes for each side. Question/Answer – 1 minute for each question, 2 minutes for each answer, 1 minute for each side to rebut/follow-up. Closing Statement – 2 minutes for each side. After the debate concludes, vote as a class to see which side won. Did the team you disagreed with in principle have the best debating style?
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DID YOU KNOW? After the Boston Massacre resulted in the death of five civilians, John Adams agreed to represent the British soldiers accused of murder. Public opinion found these men guilty before trial, but the jury declared an acquittal for six soldiers and manslaughter for two others. How was John Adams able to save these soldiers’ lives? Research the trial further and make note of John Adams’ debating style. What were his primary legal points? How did he sway the jury’s opinion about this tragic event?
CURRICULUM FRAMEWORKS TIES The Huntington Theatre Company’s Student Matinee Series provides an invaluable opportunity for teachers, students, and families looking to increase young people’s understanding of and interest in dramatic literature and the performing arts. This section contains a list of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for Theatre and English Language Arts that are addressed fully, in part, or are supplemented by attending the Huntington’s production of Two Men of Florence and utilizing this study guide as a pre- and post-show resource.
THEATRE Acting • 1.7 Create and sustain a believable character throughout a scripted or improvised scene
Technical Theatre • 4.12 Conduct research to inform the design of sets, costumes, sound, and lighting for a dramatic production. For example, students select a play from a particular historical period, genre, or style and conduct research using reference materials such as books, periodicals, museum collections, and the Internet to find appropriate examples of hairstyles, furnishings, decorative accessories, and clothing. Critical Response • 5.5 Continue to develop and refine audience behavior skills when attending informal and formal live performances • 5.12 Attend live performances of extended length and complexity, demonstrating an understanding of the protocols of audience behavior appropriate to the style of the performance
• 1.10 Use vocal acting skills such as breath control, diction, projection, inflection, rhythm, and pace to develop characterizations that suggest artistic choices
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
• 1.11 Motivate character behavior by using recall of emotional experience as well as observation of the external world
• 8.20 Identify and analyze the author’s use of dialogue and description
• 1.12 Describe and analyze, in written and oral form, characters’ wants, needs, objectives, and personality characteristics
• 8.24 Interpret mood and tone, and give supporting evidence in a text
• 1.13 In rehearsal and performance situations, perform as a productive and responsible member of an acting ensemble (i.e., demonstrate personal responsibility and commitment to a collaborative process) • 1.15 Demonstrate an understanding of a dramatic work by creating a character analysis • 1.17 Demonstrate an increased ability to work effectively alone and collaboratively with a partner or ensemble
Grades 5-8 • 8.19 Identify and analyze sensory details and figurative language
• 8.23 Use knowledge of genre characteristics to analyze a text
• 8.25 Interpret a character’s traits, emotions, or motivation and give supporting evidence from a text • 9.5 Relate a literary work to artifacts, artistic creations, or historical sites of the period of its setting • 10.3 Identify and analyze the characteristics of various genres (poetry, fiction, nonfiction, short story, dramatic literature) as forms with distinct characteristics and purposes • 17.3 Identify and analyze structural elements particular to dramatic literature (scenes, acts, cast of characters, stage directions) in the plays they read, view, write, and perform • 17.5 Identify and analyze elements of setting, plot, and characterization in the plays that are read, viewed, written, and/or performed: setting (place, historical period, time of day); plot (exposition, conflict, rising action, falling action); and characterization (character motivations, actions, thoughts, development) Grades 9-10 • 9.6 Relate a literary work to primary source documents of its literary period or historical setting
© Huntington Theatre Company Boston, MA 02115 March 2009 No portion of this Teacher Curriculum Guide may be reproduced without written permission from the Huntington Theatre Company’s Department of Education. Inquiries should be directed to: Donna Glick, Director of Education Huntington Theatre Company 264 Huntington Avenue Boston, MA 02115
• 11.5 Apply knowledge of the concept that the theme or meaning of a selection represents a view or comment on life, and provide support from the text for the identified themes • 17.7 Identify and analyze how dramatic conventions support, interpret, and enhance dramatic text Grades 11-12 • 9.7 Relate a literary work to the seminal events of its time • 11.6 Apply knowledge of the concept that a text can contain more than one theme • 11.7 Analyze and compare texts that express a universal theme, and locate support in the text for the identified theme • 17.9 Identify and analyze dramatic conventions (monologue, soliloquy, chorus, aside, dramatic irony)