TITLE: Comparing Cultural Differences and Similarities of Women's Roles through Art

CULTURAL STUDIES: Cultural Comparisons - Women's Issues in French and Japanese Cultures

TEKS:

113.33

OBJECTIVE:

Students will learn about the architecture and decoration of Hindu temples, compare them with, and apply them to, a place of contemplation they will design for themselves.

MATERIALS:

• Scissors
• See images below

FOCUS:

Explore women's roles in the 1700s in both France and Japan. Discuss as a group.

RESEARCH:

Have students research using the Internet and library resources to locate material on women's roles in the 1700s.  Students should look for roles in society, if roles differed according to class station, and if women had career opportunities. If women worked, what kind of work did they do?  Be sure to make notes of all information including the source. (Here is an example of what to look for. Women of the aristocracy of France were expected to marry for wealth and position.)  Include different class expectations for women in both France and Japan during this time period.

CULMINATING PROJECT:

Divide the students into three groups and hand each group an image of each art work and a pair of scissors. Students are to cut each picture into puzzle pieces. There should be a total of 12 pieces. On the back of each piece, write a question that relates to the material you found in your research. (Example: French aristocratic women were expected to marry for what?)  Make sure students label each puzzle according to their group number.  Once the students have completed this project, collect the puzzles and have the students stay in their three teams. Let the games begin.

Rules of the Game:

1. Each team will get a chance to answer a question on the back of a puzzle piece.
2. If the team answers correctly, they get that puzzle piece and another turn.
3. The first team to complete both puzzles wins the game.
4. It is important to coordinate the puzzle to a group that did not create it. The teacher will be reading questions from three different puzzles to ensure that one group does not get to answer the questions they created.

CLOSURE:

Recap the differences and similarities that the students found between classes and cultures. If you have any information to add, this would be a good time to end on a story or fact. End on similarities in order for students to realize that people have shared similar experiences everywhere.