From Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, the teacher’s lounge became the setting for a variety of colorful displays. Walking in, people were greeted with the sight of a tent made out of PVC pipes, a Christmas tree and tri-fold displays lining the room.
This transformation was a result of English teacher Suzanne Herzman’s two English 11 Honors classes, which explored various motifs that occur throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 19th century novel “The Scarlet Letter.”
The Motif Fair, which Herzman has annually held since her arrival at the school two years ago, aims to explore the impact and significance of recurring symbols in “The Scarlet Letter.” Students were divided into 10 groups among the two classes and were instructed to construct a visual display that would convey the essence of their motif.
Herzman graded the students on the content of the display, while two former students and one teacher scored the displays based on visual impact. The winning group had the motif of “night and day” and included students Stephanie Chen, Patrick Xiao, Kelly Liu, Katherine Chang, Aneesa Mazumdar and Teddy Sun.
The group constructed a walk-in display complete with details such as a black light and accompanying PowerPoint presentation, and each member of the winning team received a book handpicked for them by Herzman.
“We didn’t know what to exactly what we wanted to do at first, but we all agreed to steer away from the tri-fold kind of display,” junior Kelly Liu, a member of the winning group, said. “We went with two adjacent ‘rooms’ of light and darkness. It was a frame constructed of PVC pipes with white or black bedsheets draped over the frame as walls.”
Displays included a thesis describing the significance of the assigned motif and various excerpts from the book that support the thesis and demonstrate the motif. Motifs included reflections, birds, roses and clothing.
Herzman, who was introduced to the idea of a Motif Fair at a National Council for Teachers of English Conference years ago, would ideally have liked to keep the Motif Fair up for three weeks. However, due to other events in the teacher’s lounge, the fair could only last two days. Nevertheless, the Motif Fair was a positive experience for many participants.
“My group was comfortable with each other, and that added to the fun of doing the fair,” Liu said. “Despite all of the stress, we had a couple of hilarious moments. I loved working with my group because they made the project so much fun.”
