Disgrace - Power and Patriarchy!

This lesson enables students to gain a detailed insight into how the social and historical context of post-apartheid South Africa influences J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace. In particular, students learn about how power and patriarchy, two key themes in the novel, are heavily informed by real-life features of South African society. They demonstrate strong communication skills in making clear and sustained links between the features of context and the text.

The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which students learn through:

• Defining ‘patriarchy’ and understanding the key features of patriarchal society;
• Reading and comprehending a key news article outlining the key features of ‘macho’ South African society;
• Linking their understanding of context to the key elements of the text;
• Considering how the nature of patriarchal society affects different people in society.

Included is:

• Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive;
• Guardina Newspaper Article (freely available online)
• Power and Patriarchy worksheet;
• Teacher guidance/ lesson plan.

There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. These resources were originally taught to A Level students, but with subtle adaptations they have also been used with younger (GCSE) students.

All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.