Do Clothes Make the Man? Opposing Views Lesson

Starting from:

$1.50

Opposing Viewpoints Debate On Judging Appearances Quotes Series for ELA

Do clothes make the man? Or should we not trust too much in appearances? Providing middle and high school students with compelling, meaningful, fun, and serious quotations is a great way to stimulate the mind and get adolescents excited about ideas. With a pair of opposing viewpoints, students, in this discussion activity, think about both sides of the issue when it comes to judging by appearances.

Why I made these two posters/handouts:

I made a poster that teachers can hang in their classrooms. Students often feel judged by others but no one will deny that we too enjoy judging (right?). Use this poster pack to get kids to think about the implications, good and bad, of judging others based on their physical appearance.

Here is the text of the posters:

“Don’t trust too much in appearances.” — Quintillian, Ancient Roman Teacher and Writer (c. 35 – c. 100 C.E.)
“Clothes make the man.” — Recorded by Erasmus, Counter-Reformation Writer, and Scholar (1466 – 1536 C.E.) N.B. The phrase is found in Multiple Babylonian, Greek, and Latin Sources. Even Polonius in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet says it: “The apparel doth oft proclaim the man.”

Quotes Poster Pack Includes the Following Features:

3 Discussion questions are included in this resource. Get your students talking!
1 Scenario included in this resource. Make the ideas relevant with a timely scenario that pulls out both sides of the issue.

Suggestions for Use in the Classroom:

Project the PDF file on a smartboard or digital projector and use as a mini-lesson for speaking and listening.
Print out with a color printer and hang the poster in the classroom or the school library.
Use it as a prompt for a free-write exercise.
Use it as a resource for a sensitive lesson on appearance discrimination, racism, or fairness.
Use it as a resource for a teen advisory class.
Includes a helpful standards alignment chart for planning purposes.

This Speaking & Listening Resource Conforms to Common Core Standard:

“Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that relate the current discussion to broader themes or larger ideas; actively incorporate others into the discussion; and clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions.”