Introduction
Now that you have read The Importance of Being Earnest, you're curious about the man who wrote it and his time.
Working in Expert Groups, you will research topics about Oscar Wilde and his world.
You will create a Google Slide (s), and a presentation for the class, on your topic. While everyone in your group can work independently, there needs to be collaboration to make the presentation, and the slide(s) coherent.
Task
- Each Expert Group is assigned one of the following topics:
- Oscar Wilde and his life
- The trials of Oscar Wilde/homosexuality in England in 1895
- Victorian fashion circa 1895
- Victorian theater and acting, circa 1895
- Goal: create a Google Slide (s) with image and bullet points, and present findings to the class .
- Presentations should be 10 minutes long, or about 2 minutes per person. This will likely demand a run-through over the weekend.
- Each person in the group will have an assigned role and question, decided on together. Each group will have one mandatory finding, the other questions are suggestions. You may develop your own instead, based on what interests you.
Process
1. Use the websites provided to gather information. (note: you can peruse all websites listed, even if not in your group.)
2. Decide who will be your group emcee, who will introduce the presentation and segue presenters. Tell the teachers who that person is before the end of the day Friday.
3. Decide what questions you will put together. Continue to research over the weekend, as you create your slide(s). Each person will research one topic.
4. Each slide must have at least 1 image and 3 bullet points of information. You may make more than one slide but no more than 1 per person max.
5. You may search for "images" on Google; be sure to add a citation if you use a copyrighted image.
Your research will not be handed in, apart from your slides; you will be graded based on presentation and content (see evaluation). So take enough notes to present well, rather than writing up your findings formally. During your presentation, each person should state their question.
Expert Group A: Oscar Wilde and His Life
Mandatory: Basic dates and facts; birth, death, marriage, names of wife, children, parents, where born and died; most famous works.
Possible questions:
1. How did his mother and upbringing in Ireland affect him?
2. What was his education like? (Where did he go to school as a boy, as a young man, how do you think it affected him).
3. What jobs did he hold before he was a famous playwright?
4. Give an example of Oscar Wilde's poetry (not the poem from the movie); tell us about his career as a poet.
5. What role did Oscar Wilde play in the aesthetic movement?
6. Describe his tour of America. (He came to Spring Lake!)
7. How do his other works relate to The Importance of Being Earnest? Others of your choosing and curiosity!
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/oscar-wilde/
https://www.cmgww.com/historic/wilde/
https://lusme.atavist.com/oscarwilde
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/like-mother-like-son-1.26539
Expert Group B: The Trials of Oscar Wilde/homosexuality
Mandatory: Basic dates and facts; when was he charged, by whom, how many trials were there, what was the result?
Possible questions:
1. How did the second trial lead to the third trial? On what grounds was he prosecuted?
2. What was the significance of the moment in the second trial where Oscar Wilde said "he was a peculiarly plain boy."
3. How did The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde's novel, play a part in the trials? Give an example of one of the aphorisms.
4. When did the law change? Who else was prosecuted under the laws against sodomy, in 1895 and later?
5. What happened to Bosie? Did he reunite with Oscar? Was he ever prosecuted?
6. What did Oscar do when he got out of jail? Where did he die?
Others of your choosing and curiosity!
https://americanhistory.si.edu/steinwaydiary/annotations/?id=854
https://www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/oscar-wilde-trial
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/jun/04/biography
https://www.famous-trials.com/wilde/329-homosexual
Expert Group C: Fashion in 1895
Mandatory: Explain elements of basic everyday dress for a fashionable woman and man in London in 1895.
Possible questions:
1. At what age did women begin wearing corsets? Find a picture of a "training corset," and a women at the seaside without one (note: ribs will be extremely pushed in.)
2. How many changes of clothes would a gentleman need for a visit to a country house? (Note: why does Algernon bring so many clothes for a one-week visit?)
3. Compare and contrast fashion in 1895 from fashion in 1854, when Oscar Wilde was born.
4. What were Oscar Wilde's ideas about "aesthetic" dress? (Note: this is not in the play!)
5. Describe mourning dress for men and women. How long did people have to stay in mourning? What was half-mourning?
6. What did fashionable people at at dinner? At tea?
Others of your choosing and curiosity!
http://victoriaspast.com/LadyinBlack/ladyinblack.htm
http://www.victorianlondon.org/searchframe.html
https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1890-1899/
https://soyummy.com/victorian-weird-foods/
https://maggiemayfashions.com/what-to-wear-to-an-afternoon-tea/
Expert Group D: Victorian theater and acting
Mandatory: Who was George Alexander, the actor-manager of The Importance of Being Earnest, and how did he affect the play's development and performance?
Possible questions:
1. Describe the St. James Theatre (including how many seats), and the "type" of play it performed; consider its place in London theatre
2. What were audiences like?
3. What other entertainments were popular in 1895? Be specific; find titles of plays/operettas where you can. Feel free to include sports, pantomime, and so on.
4. What is a curtain-raiser, and what is its function? Name one and describe it.
5. What other playwrights were popular when Oscar Wilde was presented?
6. What is melodrama, and how does it affect Oscar Wilde and Earnest?
Others of your choosing and curiosity!
Evaluation
You will be graded on:
1. Google Slide: includes at least one image, and three bullet points of information (5 points) (Note: Only one is required, though you may wish to create more.)
2. Presentation: clear introduction and segue from topic to topic (5 points)
3. Presenter/Individual: Presenter poses question clearly, answers it, able to answer questions if time permits. (8 individual points)
Conclusion
The goal of this project is to understand the context for the play: like movies, theater always depends on its audience and the market for its success. Knowing how authors fit into that world and its time helps you understand the play itself, and how it was received. Congratulations on finding out about Oscar Wilde and his work!