Abstract:
This thesis analyzes the contributions of allegorical characters in Clyomon and Clamydes and establishes ways to teach this content in the twelfth-grade high school English Language Arts classroom. Specifically, in the first chapter, I argue that Shift acts as a hybrid of allegorical and human characters through examining what an allegorical character is and does and how Shift both acts within and outside of those boundaries. In doing so, I consider how he differs from the other allegorical characters of the play, how his characterization evolves with the play, and how he serves multiple functions throughout his time in the text. In my second chapter, I have created a unit plan for Clyomon and Clamydes grounded in NCTE and CCSS standards. This unit plan teaches Clyomon and Clamydes by focusing on allegory and identity. As Shift’s characterization is incredibly layered, he becomes an excellent teaching tool to illustrate literature’s vast capacity for different yet still valid interpretations. Additionally, Clyomon and Clamydes’s limited existing critical work creates space to allow these students to create a new argument entirely their own—an opportunity so rarely presented to them. At the end of the unit, students will write their own literary analysis paper on Clyomon and Clamydes and present it to their classmates.
