WORKING WITH THE TIME ELEMENT
• Avoid separating; combine activities
• Essay modeling text
• Scaffold difficult text
• Graphic novel
• Short passages
• Use helpful resources
• Signet Classic Teacher Guide
THE SCARLET LETTER – CHAPTER 1 ILLUSTRATION
THE SCARLET LETTER: PASSAGE ANALYSIS QUESTIONS
Directions to the student: read the passage, and then answer the questions that follow. Base your
answers on what the text says rather than on what you may know from elsewhere in the novel.
From chapter 2.
The door of the jail being flung open from within there appeared, in the first place, like a black shadow
emerging into sunshine, the grim and grisly presence of the town-beadle, with a sword by his side,
and his staff of office in his hand. This personage prefigured and represented in his aspect the
whole dismal severity of the Puritanic code of law, which it was his business to administer in its
final and closest application to the offender. Stretching forth the official staff in his left hand, he
laid his right upon the shoulder of a young woman, whom he thus drew forward, until, on the
threshold of the prison-door, she repelled him, by an action marked with natural dignity and force
of character, and stepped into the open air as if by her own free will. She bore in her arms a child, a
baby of some three months old, who winked and turned aside its little face from the too vivid light
of day; because its existence, heretofore, had brought it acquaintance only with the grey twilight of
a dungeon, or other darksome apartment of the prison. (continued for approx. 2 pages)
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
1.
a.
b.
c.
d.
The entrance of the beadle has which effect on the gathering-place?
It brings calm to an unruly crowd.
It imposes seriousness on the happy gathering.
It gives the impatient crowd a sense of anticipation.
It brings darkness into the outdoor light.
2.
a.
b.
c.
d.
What feature of the beadle’s appearance most communicates his role in the society?
His facial expression
His clothing
The pace of his walking
The royal insignia on his staff
What is Hawthorne’s tone in this passage? (tone= attitude toward main subject)
THE SCARLET LETTER – CHAPTER 11-14
Have students create a
page for a graphic novel
for chapter 15. They can
model the components
found in chapters 11-14
carefully choosing
significant text from the
novel.
BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND
• Frame novel
• Big ideas
• Essential Questions
• How does one achieve significance in his or her life?
• Does tragedy in one’s life justify revengeful acts / sinful
actions or behaviors? Page 10
MAKING CONNECTIONS
• Literary Period Presentations
• Kelly Gallagher’s AoW
• Post-it Connections
YOUR TURN – SOCRATIC SEMINARS – PAGE 13
WORLD CONNECTION QUESTION:
Write a question connecting the text to the real world.
Example: If you were given only 24 hours to pack your most
precious belongings in a back pack and to get ready to leave your home
town, what might you pack? (After reading the first 30 pages of NIGHT).
CLOSE-ENDED QUESTION:
Write a question about the text that will help everyone in the class come to
an agreement about events or characters in the text. This question
usually has a "correct" answer.
Example: What happened to Hester Prynne's husband that she
was left alone in Boston without family? (after the first 4 chapters of
THE SCARLET LETTER).
SOCRATIC SEMINARS
OPEN-ENDED QUESTION:
Write an insightful question about the text that will require proof and group
discussion and "construction of logic" to discover or explore the answer
to the question.
Example: Why did Gene hesitate to reveal the truth about the
accident to Finny that first day in the infirmary? (after mid-point of A
SEPARATE PEACE).
UNIVERSAL THEME/ CORE QUESTION:
Write a question dealing with a theme(s) of the text that will encourage
discussion about the universality of the text.
Example: Some people require peace and quiet to complete a
task; how does this theme apply to Dr. Manette?
SOCRATIC SEMINARS
LITERARY ANALYSIS QUESTION:
Write a question dealing with HOW an author chose to
compose a literary piece. How did the author manipulate
point of view, characterization, poetic form, archetypal hero
patterns, for example?
Example: In MAMA FLORA'S FAMILY, why is it
important that the
story is told through flashback?
DRAMATIC PRESENTATIONS
Student Sample Presentation
POETRY ANALYSIS WITH TP-CASTT
• Prediction based on title
• Read once for basic understanding
• Read again to complete the form
RESOURCES