Scarlet+Letter

Scenario: Alligator River (to be used as a Gateway Activity for gifted high school sophomores about to begin reading __The Scarlet Letter__. Characters: Rosemary, Jeffrey, Solomon, Frederick, Dennis  Rosemary and Jeffrey are two young lovers engaged to be married. Jeffrey lives on an island in the middle of a river infested with alligators, and Rosemary lives across the river on the shore. There isa bridge that he and Rosemary use to get together.  One night however, a terrible storm destroys the bridge and traps Jeffrey on the island. Rosemary is worried: the storm has already killed many people, and there is no word from Jeffrey. The storm eventually subsides, but rescuers are far away.  Rosemary finds Solomon, who has the only seaworthy boat left, and asks to be ferried across the river to the island. Solomon--who is busy healping other people--thinks about it and sayd, "I'll do it, but only if you spend the night with me." Rosemary turns him down and asks another friend of hers, Frederick, for help. Frederick says, "I understand your problem, Rosemary, but it's your problem, not mine." Rosemary returns to Solomon and agrees to his terms. After, when Rosemary reaches the island, she finds Jeffrey has safely survived the storm. The wedding plans continue. On the day before their wedding, however, Rosemary decides to tell Jeffrey how she got across the river. Jeffrey says, "Rosemary, wouldn't marry you if you were the last person on earth." Heartbroken, Rosemary tells her story to another friend, Dennis. Deniis tracks down Solomon, beats him senseless, and sinks his boat. Upon his return, Dennis says, "Rosemary, I don't love you, but I"ll marry you." Task:  1. By yourself, order the characters from "most honorable" to "least honorable."  2. In a small gorup, do the same. Everyone must agree on the order.  3. As a group, decide on a definition of "honor" based on your conclusions.  Scenario: Alligator River (to be used as a Gateway Activity for gifted high school sophomores about to begin reading __The Scarlet Letter__.  Characters: Rosemary, Jeffrey, Solomon, Frederick, Dennis  Rosemary and Jeffrey are two young lovers engaged to be married. Jeffrey lives on an island in the middle of a river infested with alligators, and Rosemary lives across the river on the shore. There isa bridge that he and Rosemary use to get together.  One night however, a terrible storm destroys the bridge and traps Jeffrey on the island. Rosemary is worried: the storm has already killed many people, and there is no word from Jeffrey. The storm eventually subsides, but rescuers are far away. Rosemary finds Solomon, who has the only seaworthy boat left, and asks to be ferried across the river to the island. Solomon--who is busy healping other people--thinks about it and sayd, "I'll do it, but only if you spend the night with me." Rosemary turns him down and asks another friend of hers, Frederick, for help. Frederick says, "I understand your problem, Rosemary, but it's your problem, not mine." Rosemary returns to Solomon and agrees to his terms. After, when Rosemary reaches the island, she finds Jeffrey has safely survived the storm. The wedding plans continue. On the day before their wedding, however, Rosemary decides to tell Jeffrey how she got across the river. Jeffrey says, "Rosemary, wouldn't marry you if you were the last person on earth." Heartbroken, Rosemary tells her story to another friend, Dennis. Deniis tracks down Solomon, beats him senseless, and sinks his boat. Upon his return, Dennis says, "Rosemary, I don't love you, but I"ll marry you." Task:  1. By yourself, order the characters from "most honorable" to "least honorable."  2. In a small group, do the same. Everyone must agree on the order.  3. As a group, decide on a definition of "honor" based on your conclusions.  Some relevant scenario/discussion resources:  1. Johnson, Tara. "Sexual Tensions in Secondary Classrooms." //English Education 37(//1): October 2004. 27-29.  2. McCann, Thomas, et al. //Talking in Class: Using Discussion to Enhance Teaching and Learning.// Urbana: NCTE, 2006.  3. McCann, Thomas. "Gateways to Writing Logical Arguments." //English Journal 99//(6) (2010): 33-39.