The Scarlet Letter- A Novel Study

The class will study the novel over an eight week period. Students will read the novel and then attend a live class where they will take part in discussions and activities. The class will culminate with a project and presentation of that project to the class.  The project will be assigned during week 7 to be presented in class during week 8. Students will use Google Classroom to obtain materials and submit their work.

Week 1- Is an introduction to the novel. The class will discuss Nathaniel Hawthorne, historical context, characters, ,setting, point of view, symbols, vocabulary and the Custom House portion of the novel.

Week 2- Class will discuss punishment for breaking the law. Students will research colonial punishment. Class will discuss stereotyping in literature. Students will be assigned chapters 1-8. They will be given a graphic organizer on the main characters to complete as they read these chapters.

Week 3-  The class will discuss their graphic organizers from the previous class. We will also discuss their responses to the short answer question from Week 2. The class will analyze and discuss chapters 1-8. Finally, they will be assigned an extension activity on staging one of the chapters.

Week 4- Students will discuss guilt as part of a pre-reading activity. The class will also be introduced to historical background information on Anne Hutchinson in order to understand the role of women and how dissent was handled in colonial New England. Students will use a graphic organizer to take notes on the characters as they read the chapter. Finally they will submit a personal response question.

Week 5- The class will share their responses to the pre-reading activities. Students will partake in a discussion analyzing chapters 9-15. The class will specifically look at guilt and the role it plays in these chapters. Students will then choose one of two projects to work on and present in the next class.

Week 6- Students will present their work from the previous class. The class will discuss societal conventions. They will be given background on colonial Massachusetts. The class will discuss conflict and be given a graphic organizer to present at the next class. After reading chapters 16-24, students will answer the reflection questions.

Week 7- The class will share their responses to the pre-reading activities. Students will partake in a discussion analyzing chapters 16-24. We will discuss writing essays and using the RACE format for a constructed response. Students will be assigned a writing assignment and a project to present for the next class.

Week 8- Students will be introduced to the painting The Scarlet Letter by T.H Matteson. The class will be given background information on the painting and partake in a discussion. Students will be assigned a final activity to submit based on the painting.