Presentational Task: Attic Vases Project

Materials: one large piece of black poster board, two sheets of red tissue paper, glue, pencil, scissors and/or exacto knives.

On Day 1 of this project students will hear a brief introductory lecture on Attic pottery, especially black-figure ware. They will also view many ancient examples of such pottery in photographs. As the teacher shows the photographs, she will name the types of vases illustrated. To sum up, the teacher will display an overhead that has simple outline drawings of the following vase shapes: kylix, amphora, aryballos, skyphos, lekythos, lebes, and oenochoe. Students should note that several of these shapes were normally used for very small flasks and perfume bottles. However, for this project all the vases will be large-poster-board size in order to give students room to display scenes as described below.

On Days 2 through 4 of this project students will select one of the vase shapes illustrated on the overhead yesterday and draw it, using pencil, on the large sheet of black poster board, being sure that the outline fills the entire sheet.

Students will now divide the internal vase space into four “windows” of approximately the same size. The edges of the windows and the vase border itself must be one and one half inches wide so that the vase will have stability.

Now students will cut out the vase shape and the internal windows. The poster board that is cut out of the windows will be used to make the scenes later. It will be saved and supplemented with black construction paper provided by the teacher.

Students will now glue red tissue paper to the back of the vase shape in such a way that it fills the window spaces.

Students will next choose four pivotal scenes from our text of Orpheus and Eurydice that they wish to illustrate in their windows. One student may pick scenes to tell the whole myth, for example: 1) the wedding of Orpheus and Eurydice, 2) Eurydice’s death, 3) Orpheus in the underworld with Cerberus and 4) Eurydice falling away from her husband’s arms. Or two students may team to tell the whole myth; one student’s windows will illustrate the myth’s first half only, while the other student’s illustrate the second half only.

Students will now cut figures and scenery from the reserved poster board or black construction paper to fill the windows. Each window must have four distinct items. A wedding scene could have 1) Orpheus 2) Eurydice 3) Hymenaeus in his cloak and 4) the sputtering torch.

Solid shapes have little detail and little impact. Students will have to cut away material to indicate features such as waves in hair or folds in clothing. Remember: Picasso’s people often don’t look much like people, but we recognize them as such. His images are powerful even if they are not representational. The images on the Attic vases were often distorted also. Be bold. There’s an artist somewhere in all of us.

To complete the artistic aspect of this project students will glue the elements of each scene directly onto the red tissue, working from the back of each scenic window.

During the project work days, students can easily transport the scenic elements home for further work. This can comprise their homework during the project. The vases themselves do not travel well, so class time should be reserved for arranging and gluing.

On Day 6 students will have completed their Attic vases and will now assume Orpheus’ persona and become bards. Ovid wrote this myth in hexameter verse, which has a distinctly musical cadence. (I will review scansion as part of this unit. Students will have an opportunity to scan a portion of the myth and to read the Latin as verse.) Orpheus, as a musician, made his plea to the gods in song. To replicate Ovid’s voice for Orpheus, students will retell the myth in a poem of twenty lines minimum in either free or rhymed verse. The retelling may even be done as a rap song. Students who actually provide a taped or live musical accompaniment will receive extra credit. Students will have the remainder of Day 6 and all of Day 7 to complete their poems/songs.

On Day 8 students will begin to “show” their vases against the classroom windows. (These come alive with bright light behind them.) They will discuss the scenes they chose to illustrate and point out the elements included. They will then perform their poetic/musical retelling. Their poem/song must be submitted to the teacher at this time on one page, typed and double-spaced. The song used as accompaniment, if not self- composed, should be credited at the bottom of the page.

Example: Read/sung to the tune of Hey, Jude, by the Beatles.

Correct spelling, powerful imagery, and careful word choice are expected. Students will be asked to point out places in their work where they edited for a clearer, more powerful image or a better word. Students must be ready to defend their work.

Days 9 and 10, in part, will be needed to allow all students to present their work.

Vases will be displayed in bank and storefront windows throughout the New Wilmington community. A one-page project description, with a brief myth summary, and the student’s poetic/musical versions of the myth will be displayed beside the vase art. In this way our entire community will share our exploration of Attic vases and this very significant myth.

Note that the project description given here in great detail will be shortened to a checklist of requirements that will be given to all students as they begin the project. This checklist will mirror the evaluation rubric.