Week 6:  Blogging Project with Community and Literary Focus

     For Week 6, I chose The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart.  The pairing of these two books, once again as I must confess the truth, are ones for which I have not read in the suggested course content list, if any for that fact.  It has been a challenge for me in trying to know what book compliment or pair with another, therefore, I have had to use resources such as the town librarian or peers who are currently educators to provide me with help. 

     As I begin to read bits and pieces from each, general research, and even watch video clips to get an overall understanding of the story lines, I found that the main characters (Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter and Ruby Oliver of The Boyfriend List) are each singled out by society or peers due to personal situations and matters of the heart that they have encountered with men.  However, despite the humiliation each character has endured, they continue to remain true to themselves and survive being outcast by society or friendships. 

          I can connect this with students of 21^st century through such interactions such as rumors.  Rumors can have hurtful actions against a person.  Intentional or unintentional, rumors can create false information of individuals or groups of people, which in turn can spread twists of truths without having all the details, where a person or group of people are victimized by others such as family, a community or friend circles.  Defending one’s actions or beliefs should be heard, but society can tear and break downs one’s dignity and self-esteem through lack of empathy, or compassion, in having the knowledge or having experienced what someone might be going through by walking in their shoes. I think of people who are gay or lesbian; cancer victims; people of mental or physical disabilities; teen pregnancy; inter-racial relationships or even drug addiction.  We should not judge without giving those an opportunity to explain  

     A way to connect high school students in a mentor-like manner would be a warm-up activity through a discussion where on a slip of paper, the students are to write a sentence or two about something they went through, or heard about from someone else about another person.  I would have them anonymously submit the paper and would read their statements aloud to the class, then posting onto a class resource tool (such as Padlet) for reference.  High school students would then be paired up with  upcoming ninth graders in a mentoring role and share some of the key conflicts that were in the book The Boyfriend List that also occur in the social network of the high school.  The high school students would hold a discussion on the following questions to discuss: “How do hearing rumors make you feel?”, “How do you think rumors make the other person feel?”, “What could you have done to prevent rumors?”, "What can you do to avoid social confrontations as you enter high school?", or "What three things will you commit to as a high school student to make the social environment more comfortable?“, as a way to gain insight from students and their thought  perspectives of what might be a better way to handle moving forward in looking out for themselves, or being there to aid others.  High school students could then have the upcoming ninth graders sign a kindness banner to gain their commitment to be more positive about these social issues with a fresh start at the high school.  

     Society places such high standards on what ideals people should have be it morally, ethically, and or legally; where a person or group of people should have rights to be valued and respected for choices they make, which does not make them less than a person, even though society will place outcast upon them.  As a community, we are all brothers and sisters, sharing a common bond, to survive life the best way we can and live it to its fullest.  Choices made may not always be the right one, but in the end, we all only have one life to live and everything we think, feel, say, or do are a once in a lifetime experience.  Literature is about life, and life becomes literature.