Lesson #2: Introduction to Point of View
Texts: Sempronia #1 – Pizan, Sempronia #2 – Boccaccio
1. Tell students that the two pieces they will be looking at today will both concern the same topic: a Roman woman by the name of Sempronia. Two different authors wrote the pieces about 100 years apart. After they’ve read the pieces, students will be given information about the authors.
2. Pass out SEMPRONIA #1. Read it (the original) aloud to students. After completing the reading, ask students to go back to the text and answer the following:
- Describe Sempronia in your own words
- What particular skills did Sempronia have that made her stand out from other people?
- What is your general feeling toward Sempronia – would she be someone you would want as a friend?
3. Pass out SEMPRONIA #2. Read it (the original text) aloud to students. After completing the reading, ask students to go back to the text and answer the following:
- Describe Sempronia in your own words
- What particular skills did Sempronia have that made her stand out from other people?
- What is your general feeling toward Sempronia – would she be someone you would want as a friend?
4. Divide students into groups and ask them to go through the texts listing items the authors agree upon.
Example: Both agreed on Sempronia’s skill at retelling things.
#1 "…could repeat everything she heard, no matter how long a story it was."
#2 "…carried out by imitation whatever she heard or saw other do."
5. Despite these agreed upon similarities, these two pieces on Sempronia take very different points of view. One of the authors is male, the other female. Can the students guess which piece a man/woman wrote? Do they think bias might exist in what each chose to write about and how he/she chose to write? Give the students the following information:
SEMPRONIA #1 – Written by Christine de Pizan in her book entitled The Book of the City of the Ladies in which she defends women against attacks by men. She was the daughter of an Italian professor, but is considered French since she spent most of her life in France. After her father’s early death, Christine married and had a daughter. Upon her husband’s death early in her marriage, Christine managed to make a living through her writing – something considered an "unwomanly" endeavor in her time period.
SEMPRONIA #2 – Written by Giovanni Boccaccio in his book Concerning Famous Women. Best known for his book of short stories entitled The Decameron, Boccaccio is considered one of the greatest of the early Humanist scholars in Florence, Italy. Concerning Famous Women was the first compilation of female biographies ever written.
6. Look at the Boccaccio piece again. Note that only the first 2 paragraphs have positive things to say about Sempronia. Skim the text and compile a list of how Boccaccio believes Sempronia behaved improperly for a woman.
Example: "…she dared, unlike a woman, to compose verses when she felt like it….."
7. Ask students to describe what they think Boccaccio’s ideal woman would be like. How might his views on women be a product of bias?
QUESTION FOR THOUGHT: Could what is left out of historical accounts be as important as what is included?
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