Summer

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

DEBATE: “Did Charity Have Any Other Options?”

In this activity, students will debate either for or against the assertion that Charity’s marriage to Lawyer Royall was the only suitable solution to her situation.

Wharton’s novel comments on several societal norms of her time. Consider the community reaction Charity anticipates upon the realization that she is pregnant and unmarried. For this Activity, you will argue either for or against the following assertion: Charity’s marriage to Lawyer Royall was the only suitable solution to her situation as an unwed and pregnant teenager. Working in teams, be sure to prepare opening and closing statements, as well as possible rebuttals. After rehearsing your argument with your teammates, you will participate in the debate.

Teaching Suggestion: This Activity invites students to consider Charity’s decision at the end of the novel in the context of a class debate. It may be helpful to ensure that students understand the difference in expectations of women from present day to the era in which Wharton was writing. For more information on how to structure an in-class debate, please see this teacher-facing resource from Harvard University.

Differentiation Suggestion: For an additional written component post-debate, you could invite students to consider the following prompt: Imagine that Wharton’s novel was adapted to contemporary society. Would there be other solutions for Charity and her predicament? If so, what would they be? Alternatively, students who thrive with creative writing exercises might reimagine the ending in a modern setting while imitating Wharton’s style to demonstrate understanding of the author’s choices and techniques.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. The relationship between Charity and Lucius Harney evolves over time. When she assumes that he is leaving town without bidding her farewell, she equates her feelings about him to the image of Liff Hyatt’s work boot crushing the small white flowers on the mountain.

• Why does Wharton use this imagery to describe Charity’s feelings of disappointment? (topic sentence)
• Based on her characterization of the story, analyze what this imagery reveals about Charity’s development as a young woman.
• In your concluding sentences, consider how Wharton’s imagery links to the broader theme of Coming of Age.

2. Summer provides the reader with a social commentary regarding the division of society in terms of economic class, gender, and other topics.

• How is Charity’s fate different from what it might have been had she not been adopted by the Royalls? (topic sentence)
• Identify 2-3 examples from the novel where Wharton highlights different paths of opportunity for Charity based on social class.
• How does the novel’s social commentary speak to the larger theme of The Disparity Between Social Classes at the turn of the 20th century?

3. Consider the community reaction that Charity anticipates upon the realization that she is pregnant and unmarried.

• What is Charity’s primary concern with her pregnancy? (topic sentence)
• Identify 2-3 examples in which Charity focuses on her imminent concerns. Explain the context surrounding each concern in terms of plot and character development.
• In your concluding sentences, consider what Charity’s concerns say about the overall The Rights of Women during this time period.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by textual details, and a conclusion.

1. Charity declines Lawyer Royall’s proposal of marriage twice prior to her pregnancy, but she accepts his third proposal by the end of the novel. Conversely, for all intents and purposes, he has functioned as Charity’s guardian and father figure for most of her life. Does this circumstance create an incestuous tone in the marriage of these characters? Would this relationship be considered appropriate in contemporary society? Why or why not?

2. Liff Hyatt, a resident of the Mountain, and Lucius Harney, a cultured architect from New York City, share the same initials. What symbolism might Wharton have had in mind when naming these characters in this way? What do each of these characters represent in terms of setting, social norms, and gender roles? Do they share any common characteristics? If so, what?

3. Consider Charity’s development as a young woman. Why do you think Wharton created a female protagonist who was self-aware, as opposed to shy and naive? How does the character’s concerns with the social norms of her community speak to the larger issue of the gendered expectations of women and men during this time period?

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following words best describes how Charity assists Lucius during their first interaction?

A) Eagerly

B) Rapidly

C) Laconically

D) Assuredly

2. How does Charity respond to Lawyer Royall’s initial proposal of marriage?

A) With delight

B) With fear

C) With shame

D) With contempt

3. Which of the following words best describes Lawyer Royall as a conversationalist?

A) Verbose

B) Witty

C) Didactic

D) Terse

4. Which of the following words best describes Charity’s personality in the beginning of the novel?

A) Dispassionate

B) Fiery

C) Understanding

D) Placid

5. Which of the following reasons best describes why Charity is concerned about the North Dormer community discovering her budding relationship with Lucius?

A) Because they will discriminate against him due to his race

B) Because they will inevitably insinuate promiscuity on her part

C) Because she might be punished by her caretaker

D) Because she might be abandoned by Lucius

6. In Chapter 6, in the early days of Charity’s relationship with Lucius, the narrator remarks, “[B]eneath the visible incidents resulting from Lucius Harney’s arrival there ran an undercurrent as mysterious and potent as the influence that makes the forest break into leaf before the ice is to the pools.” Which of the following literary devices is used in the above quote?

A) Simile

B) Paradox

C) Irony

D) Allusion

7. What assumption does Charity make regarding garden parties?

A) That they are beneath her social status

B) That they are more of the social milieu of Lucius’s background than hers

C) That they are only for residents of Springfield

D) That they are only for people from the Mountain

8. As she gazes at Lucius through his window in Chapter 7, Charity resolves not to visit him:

It was not the fear of any sanction, human or heavenly […]. It was simply that she had suddenly understood what would happen if she went in. It was the thing that did happen between young men and girls, and that North Dormer ignored in public and snickered over on the sly. It was what Miss Hatchard was still ignorant of, but every girl of Charity’s class knew about before she left school. It was what had happened to Ally Hawes’s sister Julia […].

Which of the following literary devices does Charity use in her reflections?

A) Allegory

B) Alliteration

C) Allusion

D) Anaphora

9. Which of the following vices does Charity struggle with throughout the novel?

A) Gluttony

B) Sloth

C) Pride

D) Greed

10. Which of the following statements is most true about the view of marriage at the turn of the 20th century?

A) It should only be used as a last resort for women.

B) It is an honorable institution that saves women from slander.

C) It is unnecessary to protect one’s chastity.

D) It is best performed between disparate social classes.

11. What do Charity’s observations regarding the Fourth of July event at Nettleton reveal about her personality?

A) That she is an experienced, sophisticated woman

B) That she hungers for a quieter, slow-paced lifestyle

C) That she prefers the comforts of home to the presence of strangers

D) That she longs to see more of the world

12. In the passage about North Dormer’s preparations for Home Week in Chapter 12, Wharton writes the following:

And of course North Dormer was so full of Associations…historic, literary (here a filial sigh for Honorius) and ecclesiastical…he knew about the old pewter communion service imported from England in 1769, she supposed? And it was so important, in a wealthy materialistic age, to set the example of reverting to the old ideals, the family and the homestead, and so on.

Which of the following reasons best describes the purpose of this passage?

A) An aside regarding the divide between younger and older generations

B) A commentary on the importance of religion in an increasingly secular society

C) An argument for the issues regarding the urban–rural classification

D) A call for the adoption of modern consumerist-protection laws

13. During one evening in the abandoned house in Chapter 14, Charity and Lucius consider the changing course of their relationship:

She waited to be caught into his arms, but he turned away from her irresolutely. The last glow was gone from behind the Mountain. Everything in the room had turned grey and indistinct, and an autumnal dampness crept up from the hollow below the orchard, laying its cold touch on their ushed faces.

Which of the following literary terms does Wharton use in her description?

A) Palindrome

B) Parable

C) Paradox

D) Personification

14. Which of the following words best describes what the Mountain represents?

A) Cosmopolitanism

B) Industrialization

C) Sophistication

D) Marginalization

15. Which of the following phrases best describes Charity’s reaction to her wedding?

A) Jubilation

B) Disgust

C) Stupefaction

D) Apathy

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating textual details to support your response.

1. What is the setting of the novel? How does the place and era contribute to the character development?

2. Consider the title of Wharton’s novel. What does it indicate about the setting and plot development?