A Doll's House – Act 2 Page 975

Objective Students will analyze the difference between social norms and social injustice in Act 2 of A Doll's House in order to formulate a selection summary.

Nora and Anne-Marie 46:09 - 50:05

Relevancy We have discussed how Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House is a modern realistic drama. However, we have already started discussing how some of the situations, especially gender roles, in Act 1 are not comparable to how we live today. Keeping in mind the historical context (moods, attitudes, and conditions of a certain time period), when discussing the treatment of characters, where do we draw the line between social norms and social injustice? When making these implications, we will find that the line is still very blurred in our society today.

Vocabulary First, repeat after me: Social Norm, Social Injustice Social Norm – an expected form of behavior in a given situation Social Injustice – the unfair treatment of a group of people based on their view of humanity 1. Would domestic violence during the late nineteenth century be considered a social norm or social injustice? 2. Would women not being allowed to work typical male jobs in today's society be considered a social norm or social injustice?

Vocabulary Pair Share – say the terms social norm and social injustice in the following sentence stem: An example of a social norm in today's society would be _______________________________, whereas a social injustice would be _________________ ________________.

Reading Skill / Formative 1. Nora having to hide from Torvald that she had a copying job is an example of social injustice. 2. Torvald referring to Nora as a helpless child is an example of social norm. 3. Torvald taking control of the household money is an example of a social injustice. 4. Nora borrowing a bank loan is an example of a social norm. 5. Nora staying home with her children is an example of a social norm.

Choral Reading You have each received a card with one of the following characters: Nora Anne-Marie Mrs. Linde (Kristine) Helmer (Torvald) Together, those of you who have the same character will be reading aloud that character's lines. Be on the look out for any examples of social norms and social injustice as we begin today's reading.

Selection Summary 1 – Act 2 pages 975 - 977 What is Nora's relationship with her children? Describe Anne-Marie's relationship with her daughter. Do these relationships apply to the terms social norm or social injustice? Explain your reasoning. Nora has had no contact with her children since she began feeling she would morally corrupt them. Anne-Marie put her daughter up for adoption because she had no money and had to take work full time as a nanny for Nora. It is social injustice to imply that only Nora's actions will directly affect her children. However, it was a social norm for single mothers to have to give up their children to find work.

Selection Summary 2 – Act 2 pages 978 - 980 What does Mrs. Linde do for Nora? What does Nora suggest about Torvald's personality? What is Nora hiding from Mrs. Linde? Does Mrs. Linde suspect anything? Mrs. Linde is sewing Nora's dress for the tarantella dance. Nora suggests that her husband is extremely territorial and will get jealous if Nora speaks to even a friend, such as Kristine. Nora is hiding that Krogstad plans to blackmail her by revealing the forged bank loan to Torvald. Mrs. Linde definitely suspects something and may still believe it has to with Dr. Rank.

Selection Summary 3 – Act 2 pages 981 - 983 What decision of Torvald's does Nora try to challenge? How does Torvald handle Nora's request? What is Torvald's reasoning for his actions? Nora is trying to convince Torvald not to fire Krogstad. Torvald is angered that Nora would try to persuade and undermine him. Torvald decides he is still going to fire Krogstad because he cannot let his employees think he is indecisive or easily manipulated by his wife. Also, he does not like the fact that Krogstad addresses him by his first name. He feels that is very disrespectful for an employee to address his boss in such a manner.