A View from the Bridge: Context of Italian American Brooklyn

This interesting and highly-stimulating lesson enables students to make clear and sustained inferences and interpretations about the context and themes in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge. In particular, students engage analytically with Alfieri’s opening monologue, demonstrating an understanding of what it reveals about Italian American culture and community at the time.

The lesson follows a clear, logical, bite-size learning journey, which guides students towards differentiated learning objectives. Over the course of this journey, they become able to:
- Understand the relevance of Brooklyn Bridge, both literally and figuratively;
- Understand the relevance of Arthur Miller’s life and influences;
- Read and understand Alfieri’s opening monologue, in which the geographical, social, and historical context is set, and infer and interpret the key information provided;
- Understand the key term ‘Omerta’, and apply codes of honour to their own contexts;
- Analyse Alfieri’s opening monologue in terms of the key information it provides the audience with about context and community;
-Peer assess each other’s learning attempts.

This resource pack includes:
- A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation;;
- Paper copies and online links to the extract needed for the lesson (Alfieri’s opening monologue);
- Cards for application activity;
- Interpretations and inferences worksheet (including answer sheet for teachers);
- A logically scaffolded essay template;
- A detailed lesson plan, complete with what the teacher and students should aim to achieve at each stage of the lesson.

All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the PowerPoint.