Mrs. MARINO

JOHN F. KENNEDY HIGH SCHOOL

SINGLE PARENTHOOD ISSUES

IN THE SCARLET LETTER

AND IN TODAY’S WORLD

Introduction:

In seeking solutions to the social, economic, and educational challenges of Single Parenthood issues, Hester Prynne and today’s single parent have had to meet myriad problems with a variety of strategies in order to raise a child in a caring, safe environment.

Task:

As a member of the American Literature Think Tank Association Center (ALTTAC), your task is to create a research document that identifies a problem facing single parent families, suggest successful strategies, and indicate government and other resources that are available to them.

Finally, tell how today’s single parent challenges, strategies and resources compare with Hester Prynne, in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.

Process:

1. Research web sites and find information about present day challenges facing single parent households.

2. Find examples of successful strategies currently used.

3. Find government and other resources that support single parents’ efforts.

4. Since Hester’s time, tell how single parent issues, challenges, strategies, and resources have changed for better or worse.

5. Report your findings in a document that includes a title page, table of contents, and each of the parts mentioned above, and a works cited page.

6. Using your research results, create a power point presentation.

Resources: Here are some useful websites. These are only intended as possible starting points; you may and should find other sites.

www.google.com

www.singleparentcentral.com

www.newfederalism.urban.org

www.secondharvest.org

www.hspc.org

www.montana.edu/~wwwhd./ftsp96

www.rampagesonramp.net/~bevhamil/singleparent

www.innerself.com/parenting/childcare

www.vix.com/free

www.mdrc.org

www.auburn.edu/~salanad/linkage

www.ncclc.org

www.acf.dhhs.gov

www.digitallibrary.upenn.edu

www.teleport.com/~mgroves

Evaluation:

	Unacceptable	Needs Improvement	Satisfactory	Exemplary
Quality of Information	Inaccurate Information	General Information Uses one specific strategy and/or resource. Has limited understanding of issue.	Accurate information. Discusses more than one successful strategy and/or useful resources.	Accurate information. Shows a comprehensive development of the issue and the successful strategies and/or resources available.
Accuracy	Serious grammatical errors.	A few serious errors.	Few minor errors.	Grammatically perfect.
Format	No format followed.	A format is followed.	A general format is followed.	Format is followed perfectly.

Conclusion: Through thoughtful research and assessment, students will be commenting on the enduring qualities of human nature that Nathaniel Hawthorne powerfully creates through the characters, their issues, challenges, and strategies. They will compare how single parents of the past and the present address social, economic, and educational issues and how our government and other resources support those efforts.