A Doll's HouseA Doll's House – Act 2Page 975

Objective

Students will analyze the difference Students will analyze the difference between social norms and social between social norms and social

injustice in Act 2 of injustice in Act 2 of A Doll's HouseA Doll's House in order to formulate a selection in order to formulate a selection

summary.summary.

Nora and Anne-Marie

46:09 - 50:05

Relevancy

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

VocabularyFirst, repeat after me: First, repeat after me: Social Norm, Social InjusticeSocial Norm, Social Injustice Social NormSocial Norm – an expected form of behavior in a given

situation Social InjusticeSocial 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 normsocial norm and social social

injusticeinjustice 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 / Formative1. 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 2pages 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 2pages 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 2pages 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.