Project or Presentation

Project or Presentation? Watch the Due Date!

CHOOSE EITHER A PROJECT OR A PRESENTATION. Check calendar for due date.

PROJECTS:   A.        Develop a two-page section from a Boston newspaper during the time/setting of this story. Your front page will be full of the story of Hester and Company, the scandal, her sin and punishment, or the aftermath. Your pages should include the following: A banner headline At least one picture with a caption The lead story (at least 300 words) Related side bar stories Horoscope/advice column/gossip column/classifieds Title of newspaper At least on advertisement that is story-related Editorial/weather report   B.       Write a four page prequel to The Scarlet Letter in the language and style of Hawthorne.  Size 14 font, double-spaced, Times New Roman. C.      Write a diary from the perspective of one of the main characters.  Choose five major events in the novel for your character to respond to.  Any changes that your character goes through should be dealt with in these journal entries.  You should tell us how you feel about other characters and events.  A diary entry should disclose motive and be written in the voice of the character. D.      Write a sequel featuring Pearl after the novel ends.  Describe what her life is like and how she is affected by the events of the novel. Be sure your choices are consistent with what you know about Pearl and the novel. This should be between about four pages, 14 font, Times New Roman, double spaced.

PRESENTATION:   A.       Write and sing a ballad, telling the story of Hester from any perspective you choose.  Words should be typed and distributed to the class.  I have a keyboard you may use, or you may bring a guitar.   B.        Create a school appropriate video of at least two major scenes from the novel.  Come in after school the day before to insure that your technology actually works.  Use a flash drive or something you can count on.  If I can’t see it, I can’t grade it.  5-7 minutes     C.     With one or two partners, write a dramatic script of at least one main scene a piece from the novel. In stage directions, describe the setting for each scene. For the class presentation, enact one of the scenes. Add props or costumes to recreate the scene effectively.  I need to see evidence that each person has participated in the writing.  Lines must be memorized.   D.       Create an embroidered or counted cross-stitch alphabet letter that looks like Hawthorne has described Hester’s “A.”  Include descriptions of the scarlet letter from the text, cited accurately, and a paragraph telling about your experience.  Size and proportion should match the text’s description.  I will be the least generous with this option, if insufficient effort is evident.

Memorized Poetry Options

In addition to your Hawthorne quote, Emerson quote and your Thoreau quote, you must memorize and recite a poem by January 8 , 2015.  There will be a sign-up sheet on the door with spots after school, in class, and during SIR.  No poems may be passed off before school.  Please do not ask if you may choose another option.  You may only choose from the following options:

#1  On Turning Ten  by Billy Collins

The whole idea of it makes me feel
like I'm coming down with something,
something worse than any stomach ache
or the headaches I get from reading in bad light--
a kind of measles of the spirit,
a mumps of the psyche,
a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.

You tell me it is too early to be looking back,
but that is because you have forgotten
the perfect simplicity of being one
and the beautiful complexity introduced by two.
But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.
At four I was an Arabian wizard.
I could make myself invisible
by drinking a glass of milk a certain way.
At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince.

But now I am mostly at the window
watching the late afternoon light.
Back then it never fell so solemnly
against the side of my tree house,
and my bicycle never leaned against the garage
as it does today,
all the dark blue speed drained out of it.

This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself,
as I walk through the universe in my sneakers.
It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends,
time to turn the first big number.

It seems only yesterday I used to believe
there was nothing under my skin but light.
If you cut me I could shine.
But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,
I skin my knees. I bleed.

#2  Emily Dickinson

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school, where children strove
At recess, in the ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

Or rather, he passed us;
The dews grew quivering and chill,
For only gossamer my gown,
My tippet only tulle.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.

 

#3  Verse 52 from "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman

The spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me—he complains of my gab and my loitering. I too am not a bit tamed—I too am untranslatable; I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world. The last scud of day holds back for me; It flings my likeness after the rest, and true as any, on the shadow’d wilds; It coaxes me to the vapor and the dusk. I depart as air—I shake my white locks at the runaway sun; I effuse my flesh in eddies, and drift it in lacy jags. I bequeath myself to the dirt, to grow from the grass I love; If you want me again, look for me under your boot-soles. You will hardly know who I am, or what I mean; But I shall be good health to you nevertheless, And filter and fibre your blood. Failing to fetch me at first, keep encouraged; Missing me one place, search another; I stop somewhere, waiting for you. Excerpted from "Song of Myself," in Leaves of Grass. #4  Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of ANNABEL LEE; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me. I was a child and she was a child, In this kingdom by the sea; But we loved with a love that was more than love- I and my Annabel Lee; With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven Coveted her and me. And this was the reason that, long ago, In this kingdom by the sea, A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful Annabel Lee; So that her highborn kinsman came And bore her away from me, To shut her up in a sepulchre In this kingdom by the sea. The angels, not half so happy in heaven, Went envying her and me- Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know, In this kingdom by the sea) That the wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee. But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we- Of many far wiser than we- And neither the angels in heaven above, Nor the demons down under the sea, Can ever dissever my soul from the soul Of the beautiful Annabel Lee. For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride, In the sepulchre there by the sea, In her tomb by the sounding sea #5  In honor of the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, I’m including it as an option, even though it is not really a poem.  One may, however, find in it many poetic devices.  Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. Abraham Lincoln November 19, 1863     #6  This option is for the rare student who would like to challenge herself/himself with a ridiculously long and wonderful poem called “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe.  You’ll find the entire text online and in our textbook.

Scarlet Letter Vocabulary Sets #1, #2, #3

The Scarlet Letter Vocabulary Words  

definitions from http://www.thefreedictionary.com; check the site to listen to pronunciations

Page numbers are for the Signet Classic book

Looks like the pronunciations did not transfer over to the blog very well.  Oh, well.

 

FIRST GROUP

Utopia, 55 - (y-tp-) n 1. a. An ideally perfect place, especially in its social, political, and moral aspects.  b. A work of fiction describing a utopia. 2. An impractical, idealistic scheme for social and political reform.

 

physiognomy, 57 (fz-gn-m, -n-m) n.   pl. phys·i·og·no·mies   1. a. The art of judging human character from facial features. b. Divination based on facial features. 2. a. Facial features, especially when regarded as revealing character. b. Aspect and character of an inanimate or abstract entity: the physiognomy of New England.

 

tribunal, 57 (tr-bynl, tr-) n. 1. Law  a. A seat or court of justice. b. The bench on which a judge or other presiding officer sits in court. 2. A committee or board appointed to adjudicate in a particular matter.

3. Something that has the power to determine or judge: the tribunal of public opinion.

 

venerable, 58 (vnr--bl) adj. 1. Commanding respect by virtue of age, dignity, character, or position.

2. Worthy of reverence, especially by religious or historical association: venerable relics.

 

ignominy, 62 (gn-mn, -m-n) n.  pl. ig·no·min·ies 1. Great personal dishonor or humiliation.

2. Shameful or disgraceful action, conduct, or character.

 

mien, 63 (mn) n. 1. Bearing or manner, especially as it reveals an inner state of mind: "He was a Vietnam veteran with a haunted mien" James Traub.  2. An appearance or aspect.

 

preternatural, 64 (prtr-nchr-l, -nchrl) adj.  1. Out of or being beyond the normal course of nature; differing from the natural. 2. Surpassing the normal or usual; extraordinary: "Below his preternatural affability there is some acid and steel" George F. Will.  3. Transcending the natural or material order; supernatural.

preter·natu·ral·ism n.                  preter·natu·ral·ly adv.                preter·natu·ral·ness n.

 

phantasmagoria, 65 (fn-tzm-gôr-, -gr-) also phan·tas·ma·go·ry n. pl. phan·tas·ma·go·ri·as also phan·tas·ma·go·ries 1. a. A fantastic sequence of haphazardly associative imagery, as seen in dreams or fever. b. A constantly changing scene composed of numerous elements.2. Fantastic imagery as represented in art.

phan·tasma·goric (-gôrk, -gr-) adj.                 phan·tasma·gori·cal·ly adv.

 

iniquity, 68 (-nkw-t) n.  pl. in·iq·ui·ties  1. Gross immorality or injustice; wickedness.  2. A grossly immoral act; a sin

 

sage, 70 (sj) n. One venerated for experience, judgment, and wisdom.

adj. sag·er, sag·est  1. Having or exhibiting wisdom and calm judgment.

2. Proceeding from or marked by wisdom and calm judgment: sage advice.

 

exhort, 72 (g-zôrt) v.  ex·hort·ed, ex·hort·ing, ex·horts  v.tr. To urge by strong, often stirring argument, admonition, advice, or appeal: exhorted the troops to hold the line.

 

lurid, 75 (lrd) adj.   1. Causing shock or horror; gruesome.  2. Marked by sensationalism: a lurid account of the crime. 3. Glowing or shining with the glare of fire through a haze: lurid flames. 4. Sallow or pallid in color.

lurid·ly adv.                      lurid·ness n.

 

paramour, 80 (pr-mr) n.  A lover, especially one in an adulterous relationship.

 

infamy, 82 (nf-m) n. pl. in·fa·mies  1. Evil fame or reputation. 2. The condition of being infamous.

3. An evil or criminal act that is publicly known.

 

 

SECOND GROUP

progenitor, 85 (pr-jn-tr) n. 1. A direct ancestor. 2. An originator of a line of descent; a precursor.

3. An originator; a founder: progenitors of the new music.

 

plebeian, 86 (pl-bn) adj. 1. Of or relating to the common people of ancient Rome: a plebeian magistrate.2. Of, belonging to, or characteristic of commoners. 3. Unrefined or coarse in nature or manner; common or vulgar: plebeian tastes. n. 1. One of the common people of ancient Rome. 2. A member of the lower classes. 3. A vulgar or coarse person.

 

alchemy, 88 (lk-m) n. 1. A medieval chemical philosophy having as its asserted aims the transmutation of base metals into gold, the discovery of the panacea, and the preparation of the elixir of longevity. 2. A seemingly magical power or process of transmuting: "He wondered by what alchemy it was changed, so that what sickened him one hour, maddened him with hunger the next" Marjorie K. Rawlings.

al·chemi·cal (l-km-kl),        al·chemic adj.                  al·chemi·cal·ly adv.

 

martyr, 88 (märtr) n. 1. One who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce religious principles.

2. One who makes great sacrifices or suffers much in order to further a belief, cause, or principle.

3. a. One who endures great suffering: a martyr to arthritis.  b. One who makes a great show of suffering in order to arouse sympathy.

tr.v. mar·tyred, mar·tyr·ing, mar·tyrs 1. To make a martyr of, especially to put to death for devotion to religious beliefs.  2. To inflict great pain on; torment.

 

talisman, 90 (tls-mn, -z-) n. pl. tal·is·mans   1. An object marked with magic signs and believed to confer on its bearer supernatural powers or protection.   2. Something that apparently has magic power.

 

aver, 91 (-vûr) tr.v. a·verred, a·ver·ring, a·vers

1. To affirm positively; declare. 2. Law a. To assert formally as a fact. b. To justify or prove.

 

mutable, 93 (myt-bl) adj. 1. a. Capable of or subject to change or alteration. b. Prone to frequent change; inconstant: mutable weather patterns.  2. Tending to undergo genetic mutation: a mutable organism; a mutable gene.

muta·bili·ty n.                 muta·bly adv.

 

caprice, 96 (k-prs) n. 1. a. An impulsive change of mind. b. An inclination to change one's mind impulsively. c. A sudden, unpredictable action, change, or series of actions or changes: A hailstorm in July is a caprice of nature. 2. Music A capriccio.

enmity, 96 (nm-t) n. pl. en·mi·ties  Deep-seated, often mutual hatred.

 

dearth, 97 (dûrth) n. 1. A scarce supply; a lack: "the dearth of uncensored, firsthand information about the war" Richard Zoglin. 2. Shortage of food; famine.

 

imp, 99 (mp) n. 1. A mischievous child. 2. A small demon. 3. Obsolete A graft.

tr.v. imped, imp·ing, imps 1. To graft (new feathers) onto the wing of a trained falcon or hawk to repair damage or increase flying capacity. 2. To furnish with wings.

 

panoply, 106 (pn-pl) n. pl. pan·o·plies 1. A splendid or striking array: a panoply of colorful flags.

2. Ceremonial attire with all accessories: a portrait of the general in full panoply.

3. Something that covers and protects: a porcupine's panoply of quills.

4. The complete arms and armor of a warrior.

 

latent, 136 (ltnt) adj. 1. Present or potential but not evident or active: latent talent.

2. Pathology In a dormant or hidden stage: a latent infection. 3. Biology Undeveloped but capable of normal growth under the proper conditions: a latent bud. 4. Psychology Present and accessible in the unconscious mind but not consciously expressed.

n. A fingerprint that is not apparent to the eye but can be made sufficiently visible, as by dusting or fuming, for use in identification.

latent·ly adv.

 

antipathy, 137 (n-tp-th) n. pl. an·tip·a·thies 1. A strong feeling of aversion or repugnance.

2. An object of aversion.

 

THIRD GROUP

 

presentiment, 137 (pr-znt-mnt)

n. A sense that something is about to occur; a premonition.

pre·senti·mental (-mntl) adj.

 

dissemble, 142 (d-smbl) v. dis·sem·bled, dis·sem·bling, dis·sem·bles

v.tr. 1. To disguise or conceal behind a false appearance. 2. To make a false show of; feign.

v.intr. To disguise or conceal one's real nature, motives, or feelings behind a false appearance.

dis·semblance n.            dis·sembler n.                 dis·sembling·ly adv.

 

somnambulism, 143 (sm-nmby-lzm)

n. sleepwalking

som·nambu·list n.                          som·nambu·listic adj.

 

zenith, 151 (znth) n. 1. The point on the celestial sphere that is directly above the observer.

2. The upper region of the sky. 3. The highest point above the observer's horizon attained by a celestial body. 4. The point of culmination; the peak: the zenith of her career.

 

erudite, 152 (ry-dt, r-) adj. Characterized by erudition; learned.

eru·ditely adv.                               eru·diteness n.

 

bane, 167 (bn) n. 1. Fatal injury or ruin: "Hath some fond lover tic'd thee to thy bane?" George Herbert.

2. a. A cause of harm, ruin, or death: "Obedience,/Bane of all genius, virtue, freedom, truth,/Makes slaves of men" Percy Bysshe Shelley. b. A source of persistent annoyance or exasperation: "The spellings of foreign names are often the bane of busy copy editors" Norm Goldstein. 3. A deadly poison.

 

sportive, 175 (spôrtv, spr-) adj. 1. Playful; frolicsome. 2. Relating to or interested in sports.

3. Archaic Amorous or wanton.

sportive·ly adv.                               sportive·ness n.

 

recompense, 211 (rkm-pns) tr.v. rec·om·pensed, rec·om·pens·ing, rec·om·pens·es

1. To award compensation to: recompensed the victims of the accident.

2. To award compensation for; make a return for: recompensed their injuries.

n. 1. Amends made, as for damage or loss. 2. Payment in return for something, such as a service.

 

necromancy, 225 (nkr-mns) n. 1. The practice of supposedly communicating with the spirits of the dead in order to predict the future. 2. Black magic; sorcery. 3. Magic qualities.

necro·mancer n.            necro·mantic (-mntk) adj.

 

apotheosis, 233 (-pth-ss, p-th-ss) n. pl. a·poth·e·o·ses (-sz)

1. Exaltation to divine rank or stature; deification. 2. Elevation to a preeminent or transcendent position; glorification: "Many observers have tried to attribute Warhol's current apotheosis to the subversive power of artistic vision" Michiko Kakutani. 3. An exalted or glorified example: Their leader was the apotheosis of courage.

 

stigma, 238 (stgm) n. pl. stig·ma·ta (stg-mät, -mt, stgm-) or stig·mas

1. A mark or token of infamy, disgrace, or reproach: "Party affiliation has never been more casual . . . The stigmata of decay are everywhere" Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

2. A small mark; a scar or birthmark. 3. Medicine A mark or characteristic indicative of a history of a disease or abnormality. 4. Psychology A mark or spot on the skin that bleeds as a symptom of hysteria.

5. stigmata Bodily marks, sores, or sensations of pain corresponding in location to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus, usually occurring during states of religious ecstasy or hysteria.

6. Biology A small mark, spot, or pore, such as the respiratory spiracle of an insect or an eyespot in certain algae. 7. Botany The receptive apex of the pistil of a flower, on which pollen is deposited at pollination. 8. Archaic A mark burned into the skin of a criminal or slave; a brand.

stigmal adj.