Objects of Inquiry: Exploring Cio-Cio-San's Box of Memories

IN PREPARATION

For this activity, students will need the reproducible handouts entitled Objects of Inquiry, the opera synopsis, colored pencils, and the audio clips. If teachers wish to utilize the video clips in this activity, they will need video projection equipment and access to Met Opera on Demand, the PBS Learning Media website, or a DVD of the Metropolitan Opera’s Madama Butterfly (dir. Anthony Minghella).


CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS

Art, History, English, Drama, Music, Ethics, Social Studies


LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  • To strengthen students’ comprehension of Madama Butterfly’s characters and story
  • To deepen students’ understanding of Cio-Cio-San’s cultural identity and how it develops throughout Madama Butterfly
  • To expand students’ awareness of how objects can represent aspects of identity in fictional works and in their own lives
  • To extend students’ ability to make connections between their own identities and those of operatic characters


COMMON CORE STANDARDS

This activity directly supports the following ELA-Literacy Common Core Strands:

 

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.1
Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. 

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text. 

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.1.e
Seek to understand other perspectives and cultures and communicate effectively with audiences or individuals from varied backgrounds.