Students wear scarlet letter for English activity
 Juniors in Honors English recently experienced what it is like to be subject to ridicule and shame for their sins. Last week, teachers Kate Petrie and Jamie Collins asked them to wear a scarlet letter on their chest for one day to signify one of their greatest sins or weaknesses as part of a unit on Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter. The purpose of the activity was for them to learn what it might be like to be cast into attention, similar to the protagonist in the story.
In the story, Hester Prynne has to wear the letter "A" on her chest to show that she committed adultery — an act that is rejected by her Puritan community. Hawthorne wrote the novel in 1850, but the story is set 200 years earlier. The junior English curriculum revolves around American Literature.
Some of the more popular letters students wore were "T" for television, "J" for jealousy, "S" for stress, "P" for procrastination, and "L" for lying. Students were often asked by their peers throughout the day what their letter stood for and some admitted to being embarrassed. Others could not make it through the entire day wearing the letter.
A few teachers played along with the activity by making students with letters sit on the other side of the room or calling them out to make them feel "shameful" for their sin.
The students followed up the activity with discussion about modern-day outcasts and the effects of being shunned.
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