The Bell Jar Lesson Plan

A Portrait of the Author

Kind of Activity:

Research

Objective:

Students will be able to understand the basic biographical details of the author, to inform their analysis of the novel.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.7

Structure:

Divide the class into groups, one group per biographical element: Plath the student, Plath the daughter, Plath the wife, Plath the writer, and Plath the wife.

Ask each group to closely examine a biographical aspect through research and prepare a casual presentation for a group discussion of Sylvia Plath. Each group should answer the question "who is Sylvia Plath the ____" by filling in the aspect assigned to the group and...