Learning Target: I will practice paraphrasing challenging passages, and then writing discussion questions using question stems. 

Homework: 

Read chapter VI (61-68)

For each of the following chapters, paraphrase one passage and write accompanying question(s) - one or two per passage - using the question stems provided for you: chapters IV (48-53), V (53-60), and VI (61-68).

The Scarlet Letter

Questioning

Before you can even get to a critical question, particularly with a challenging text, paraphrase a complex sentence/idea.

On page 33 of Scarlet Letter:   Find a challenging 1-3 sentence passage in your reading. Record the passage exactly. Then, summarize it. 

Here is an example:

Hawthorne: The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison.”

Summarize the key points expressed above: The founders of new societies have always recognized that the practical demands of human civilization necessitate a plan to deal with death and criminals. Because no matter what their hopes and ideals might have been, the fact remains, human beings are mortal and flawed.

Writing Discussion Questions...

Going back to Hawthorne’s original wording, what key words within Hawthorne’s phrasing beg bigger questions, or seem to tease out bigger themes and questions about those themes?

For example, see the questions below, created with the use of question stems. It takes patience and practice and good thinking to come up with good questions.

By the way, there are weak questions! Here’s one:

What are the strengths and weaknesses of Hawthorne’s description?

Instead, try this:  What are the strengths and weaknesses of Hawthorne’s depiction of the founders of Utopian societies; is he dismissive of their utopian ideals or does he provide a useful reality check?

Here are some more examples of good question stem questions for that passage...

• Given Hawthorne’s claim, what seems to be his attitude about utopian thinkers and the founders who aimed to create Utopian societies?
• What case can be made that “invariably” may be the most important word in the sentence?
• What other words in the sentence can you make an argument for being the most important for revealing an attitude?
• Explain how your knowledge of the founders of America’s New England colonies can impact your reading of this entire sentence.
• What are the implications of Hawthorne contrasting the founder’s original projections for human virtues and happiness with a society’s earliest practical necessities?