Homework for tomorrow:

• Read chapters V&VI of The Scarlet Letter

• On turntin.com...

Please write either and interpretive or connection question. Either way, make sure that your question is at least partially inspired by a direct quote from one of the two chapters, and include that quote and the page number in your question.

Also, please reply to one other student question.

Below are two good student examples of interpretive and connection questions from  a student's  (Camilla Breen in 1st period) submission to the Chapter III-IV discussion:

Interpretive: When Chillingsworth sees Hester on the scaffold, he "raised his finger. . . and laid it on his lips" while she " pressed her infant to her bosom, with such a convulsive force". After they see each other, Chillingsworth lies to another townsman and says he does not know who the woman is, and that he had been captured by indians. Why would he lie about not knowing his own wife? What does that say about his character, and hers? What does that say about the rest of the Puritan community, that a man would lie while his wife is suffering? What can you infer about the importance of reputation, obeying the law, and sinning in the puritan community from this scene? 

Connective: In chapter IV, Chillingsworth poses as a doctor to gain access to the jail to see Hester. She knows who he is, but hides his identity, and continues to hide the identity of the father of her child. Why does she do this, when she does not have to? What does that say about the dynamics between men and women, especially in a society like the Puritans? What are some real-world examples of people hiding the truth for the sake of others? How did it end?


A good question and answer from Grant and Brie in 1st period.

Connection: Hawthorne characterizes Hester Prynne as confident, as she is publicly shamed for her crime. What does this say about her, and all women during this time period? ReplyDelete
	12.1	Brie Voetberg	yesterday, 10:44:51 PM	0 replies
Interpretive: On page 44, Hawthorne describes the 'A' on Hester's dress as a "scarlet token of infamy". Why were the Puritans so insistent on public humiliation, and what good did it do for society as a whole?  Connection: Hawthorne characterizes Hester Prynne as confident, as she is publicly shamed for her crime. What does this say about her, and all women during this time period? Connection: She is characterized as confident but there are subtle hints that suggest that this is a front. Much like many women of this time, she did not have power over most things so she pretended to be strong. The women went through discrimination from men and judgment from other women and they learned to rise above and appear unaffected. As we find out later in chapter four she is "in no reasonable state of mind" (50) and while she may seem confident she is filled with self-doubt and unrest.

A good interpretive question by Xander Allison 1st period:

Interpretive Question: On page 53 right at the end of the chapter Hester asks Robert if he "will prove the ruin of mine (her) soul". Robert responds with a smile saying "Not the soul.....No, not thine!" Could his emphasis on not ruining her soul specifically indicate he will be exacting ruin on another townsperson or the town as a whole?

Scarlet Letter ch 1-2 and God in America

God in America

By 7am tomorrow morning, August 31, complete the following: 

Read and annotate chapters III-IV

On the turnitin.com DISCUSSION page, write and post two questions (read the directions provided on the turnitin assignment for chapters III-IV) 

Also, respond to another student's question for chapters III-IV.  Just pick and respond to one of the two questions written by another student.

8/31:  Thursday: Group Guidance: Check in quickly with me and then report to Room 140.  If you are late for any reason, go straight to Room 140.

9/01:  For Friday, Sept 1: Read and annotate chapters V-VI. 
Post and respond to one question prior to 7am on September 1.

Turnitin directions
Please write one interpretive question and one a connection question, respectively, for chapters  3-4.  One of the two questions should be inspired by a question in chapter 3 and the  other question should be inspired by a question in chapter 4.

When a reader asks an interpretive question (aka, inferential questions) they are doing so in the hope that a discussion of it will clarify or deepen their understanding of that passage, and by extension, the larger text.  They seek to better understand what the author was trying to convey, no  matter how subtly. 

One interpretive example...
On p. 79, as Josiah and Tayo are trying to round up the cattle that had wandered off, it says the cattle "had little regards for fences". Later, on p. 80, Tayo says, "It took almost the whole day to round them up because they were so wild." What do you think the wild, wandering cows could represent in the story? 

A connection question uses some theme or idea explored in the text in order to ask a question that goes beyond the text, perhaps connecting the issues to the real world or another text.  For example:


On the opening page of The Scarlet Letter, the narrator alludes to the Puritan desire to  form a "Utopia of human virtue and happiness" (33).  What are the inherent virtues and pitfalls of societies that seek perfection?  What other examples are there in the real world, in history, of attempts to create Utopian societies? What went right and what went wrong with those attempts? Are Utopias possible on a smaller scales, perhaps within an individual church or a commune?

8/30 Class disc of ch I-II Read chapters III-IV for tomorrow and post & respond to turnitin.com disc quest by end of day 08/31

8/31 Jr. Group Guidance Attendance then to 140 Read  ch V-VI for Friday

9/1 SL Ch V-VI (53-68) discussion Disc Self -Assess HW: SL reading and questions for 9/5

Scarlet Letter ch 1-2 discussion

utopia

1. 1 :  an imaginary and indefinitely remote place
2. 2 often capitalized :  a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions
3. 3 :  an impractical scheme for social improvement

scapegoat

1. 1 :  a goat upon whose head are symbolically placed the sins of the people after which he is sent into the wilderness in the biblical ceremony for Yom Kippur
2. 2a :  one that bears the blame for othersb :  one that is the object of irrational hostility

Today's Goals: 

Establish good habits for small group discussion.

Ask and attempt to answer questions about the exposition chapters of The Scarlet Letter.

What does a bad small group discussion look like?
What does a good small group discussion look like?

1. Find direct quotes which allude to some of the problems that any utopias might face.  What do these details suggest about the human condition, about human nature?

2. What are some of the key details which convey the social setting of the town?  How does Hawthorne use characters to convey attitudes?

3. How is the setting - time, place, culture/religion, specific details about even the prison - essential to "setting" up the story?

4. What do we learn about Hester Prynne is this opening scene? What is told to us? What might we infer?

5. Good readers listen to the moments where something in the text suggest a possible figurative, metaphoric, symbolic interpretation is warranted.  What were some of the details which Hawthorne (and his narrator) may have included for their literal as well figurative meanings? What tips you off? Where is done overtly, obvioulsy? Where is it not more subtle?

6. Who is Anne Hutchinson?  She is alluded to and described as "saintly"?  What potentially does this allusion add to our understanding of the opening chapter? Of our narrator? Of Hester Prynne?

7. Which words had you looking for your phone or a dictionary?  List all of them, provided a portion of the sentence, their page number, and a brief definition appropriate to the context of the sentence. 

8. What is the relationship between Hawthorne's narrator and the characters and place he writes about?  What details suggest or convey this?

9. Hawthorne wrote this book nearly 200 years after the time of its setting in Puritan New England.  Hawthorne was not a Puritan, but his ancestors were. What early impresssions do you have of how he felt about the Puritans? What do you base them on?

10. The human desire to create utopias and scapegoats is strong.  Discuss each.  What needs might  each fill in the human psyche?

Homework

Fill in the "gaps" from the discussion guide. Prepare for whole group discussion of chapters 1 & 2 tomorrow.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8/21 First Day of School Intro to Class Review Syllabus	8/22 All Classes in DC Introductory Letter and Beginning of Year Self Assessment	8/23 Late Start Day Poem Inferential and Broader Connection Questions	8/24 Summer Reading Day Bring Scarlet Letter (SL) tomorrow	8/25 Intro to SL PPT Puritans Shaming and Sexism in 2017 America? Scarlett Letter (SL) Graffiti
8/28 SL Reading Day Turnitin disc quests	8/29 SL Ch I-II disc (33-41) Read cha III & IV and write discussion questions. Post discussion questions.	8/30 God in America Romanticism Discuss Ch I-II Read ch V-VI for Friday	8/31 Jr. Group Guidance Attendance then to 140	9/1 SL Ch V-VI (53-68) discussion Disc Self -Assess HW: SL reading and questions for 9/5
9/4 LABOR DAY	9/5 SL VII-VIII (68-80) discussion of inferential and broader connection questions	9/6 Late Start Day Reading Day Post disc quests	9/7 S.C. OPEN HOUSE SL IX & X Disc (80-95)	9/8 Junior Subject Team Type II (administer)
9/11 SL Reading Day Romanticism PPT?	9/12 SL XI-XIV (95-120) Disc Romanticism PPT?	9/13 SL Reading Day Post disc quests	9/14 N.C. OPEN HOUSE SL XV-XVIII (120-141) disc	9/15 TBD
9/18 SL Reading Day Post disc questions	9/19 SL XIX-XX (155-180) discussion	9/20 Late Start Day SL Reading Day	9/21 Discuss SL XXI-XXIV	9/22 SL End of Book Quiz
9/25 SL Paper	9/26 SL Paper	9/27 School Improvement Day 11:30 Dismissal SL Paper	9/28 SL Paper	9/29 SL Paper Due
10/2 Intro to AP Rhetoric	10/3 Intro to AP Rhetoric	10/4 Late Start Day Intro to AP Rhetoric	10/5 Intro to AP Rhetoric	10/6 Intro to AP Rhetoric
10/9 COLUMBUS DAY	10/10 DISTRICT INSTITUTE DAY	10/11 Transcendentalism	10/12 Transcendentalism	10/13 Transcendetnalism
10/16 Transcendentalism	10/17 Transcendentalism	10/18 Late Start Day Transcendentalism	10/19 Transcendentalism	10/20 END OF 1ST QUARTER Transcendentalism