Why does Orsino ask for more music in order to stop wanting it?
Twelfth Night
30 minutes total
ByWilliam Shakespeare
Grade9-10
Time30 minutes
Essential question
Why does Orsino ask for more music in order to stop wanting it?
Marked passage
Passage location
Act I, Scene II
Start anchor
If music be the food of love, play on,
End anchor
Love-thoughts lie rich, when canopied with bowers.
Passage focus
Orsino tries to cure desire with excess
Ways to teach it
Listening
Listen to the exact passage; visual following is optional. Same question and evidence demand.
Solo
Read the exact passage independently.
Supported
Use narration and sentence highlighting while reading the same passage.
Teacher guide
Close
Name the single detail that most changed or sharpened your interpretation, and explain why.
Evidence
Use the appetite/food metaphor, the request for excess music, and the return of desire or fixation that follows.
Mark
Circle the food and appetite words in Orsino’s metaphor. Underline the part of the plan where he asks for excess in order to eliminate desire. Star the line showing the desire returning instead of disappearing.
Instructional move
Map a self-defeating strategy inside a metaphor
Notice
• What bodily process does Orsino use as a model for love? • Why might excess make sense as a cure within that metaphor? • How does the scene show that Orsino’s strategy keeps him focused on the feeling he wants to escape?
Strong answer
Orsino treats love as appetite: if music feeds desire, perhaps excess music will make the appetite sick and end it. The strategy is self-defeating because trying to extinguish desire keeps him focused on feeding and describing it.
Think
Answer provisionally: Why does Orsino ask for more music in order to stop wanting it? Choose the strongest interpretation you can defend from this passage alone.
Watch for
Do not say the metaphor fails because music is enjoyable. Explain why the logic of overfeeding becomes part of the very desire it is meant to cure.
Why this passage
Orsino treats desire like appetite: if music feeds love, perhaps too much music will make the appetite sick and end it. The strategy defeats itself because each attempt to extinguish desire becomes another way of dwelling on it.
Write
Write a short evidence-based response to: Why does Orsino ask for more music in order to stop wanting it? Use at least two details from the assigned passage and explain how they support your interpretation.
Student tasks
Mark
Circle the food and appetite words in Orsino’s metaphor. Underline the part of the plan where he asks for excess in order to eliminate desire. Star the line showing the desire returning instead of disappearing.
Notice
What bodily process does Orsino use as a model for love? Why might excess make sense as a cure within that metaphor? How does the scene show that Orsino’s strategy keeps him focused on the feeling he wants to escape?
Think
Answer provisionally: Why does Orsino ask for more music in order to stop wanting it?
Write
Write a short response using at least two pieces of evidence from this passage. Use evidence from the assigned passage. Show what you noticed and how the text supports your interpretation.
Ready-to-teach lesson
TumbleTA 6-12 · TEXT-BASED LESSON
BATCH 05 · 9-10 · LESSON 108
Twelfth Night
William Shakespeare
Why does Orsino ask for more music in order to stop wanting it?
TOTAL TIME
PASSAGE
30 minutes
Orsino tries to cure desire with excess
FIND THE ANCHOR TEXT
Use the Anchor Text Table of Contents in the Enhanced Reader to open the START anchor. Then use the dropdown to select the END anchor.
SECTION / LOCATION
Act I, Scene II
START
If music be the food of love, play on,
END
Love-thoughts lie rich, when canopied with bowers.
PASSAGE ID
sec-tn-02
THE MOVE
Map a self-defeating strategy inside a metaphor
WHY THIS PASSAGE
Orsino treats desire like appetite: if music feeds love, perhaps too much music will make the appetite sick and end it. The strategy defeats itself because each attempt to extinguish desire becomes another way of dwelling on it.
MARK
Circle the food and appetite words in Orsino’s metaphor. Underline the part of the plan where he asks for excess in order to eliminate desire. Star the line showing the desire returning instead of disappearing.
NOTICE
What bodily process does Orsino use as a model for love?
page 1
Why might excess make sense as a cure within that metaphor?
How does the scene show that Orsino’s strategy keeps him focused on the feeling he wants to
escape?
THINK
Answer provisionally: Why does Orsino ask for more music in order to stop wanting it? Choose the strongest interpretation you can defend from this passage alone.
WRITE
Write a short evidence-based response to: Why does Orsino ask for more music in order to stop wanting it? Use at least two details from the assigned passage and explain how they support your interpretation.
CLOSE
Name the single detail that most changed or sharpened your interpretation, and explain why.
STRONG ANSWER
Orsino treats love as appetite: if music feeds desire, perhaps excess music will make the appetite sick and end it. The strategy is self-defeating because trying to extinguish desire keeps him focused on feeding and describing it.
EVIDENCE
Use the appetite/food metaphor, the request for excess music, and the return of desire or fixation that follows.
WATCH FOR
Do not say the metaphor fails because music is enjoyable. Explain why the logic of overfeeding becomes part of the very desire it is meant to cure.
SOLO
Read the exact passage independently.
SUPPORTED
Use narration and sentence highlighting while reading the same passage.
LISTENING
Listen to the exact passage; visual following is optional. Same question and evidence demand.
page 2
STUDENT PAGE · SAME PASSAGE, SAME THINKING
Twelfth Night
William Shakespeare
Why does Orsino ask for more music in order to stop wanting it?
START ANCHOR
If music be the food of love, play on,
END ANCHOR
Love-thoughts lie rich, when canopied with bowers.
Use the Anchor Text Table of Contents in the Enhanced Reader to open the START anchor. Then use the dropdown to select the END anchor.
OPEN THE MARKED PASSAGE IN TUMBLELIT
SOLO: read independently. SUPPORTED: use narration + highlighting. LISTENING: listen to the exact passage. The question and evidence task stay the same.
1.MARK - Circle the food and appetite words in Orsino’s metaphor. Underline the part of the plan
where he asks for excess in order to eliminate desire. Star the line showing the desire returning instead of disappearing.
2.NOTICE - What bodily process does Orsino use as a model for love? Why might excess make
sense as a cure within that metaphor? How does the scene show that Orsino’s strategy keeps him focused on the feeling he wants to escape?
3.THINK - Answer provisionally: Why does Orsino ask for more music in order to stop wanting it?
4.WRITE - Write a short response using at least two pieces of evidence from this passage.
Use evidence from the assigned passage. Show what you noticed and how the text supports your interpretation.
page 3
Original printable PDF
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