Rappaccini's Daughter

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.

“A Change of Perspective”

In this activity, students will write about key interactions between Giovanni and Beatrice from Beatrice’s perspective.

“Rappaccini’s Daughter” is written from the third-person limited omniscient point of view. Because it is written from this perspective, the reader has very little access to Beatrice’s thoughts and feelings as she engages with Giovanni. Select one interaction between Giovanni and Beatrice and write a journal entry about the interaction from Beatrice’s perspective. As you write this entry, consider the following:

• How does Beatrice feel about Giovanni? Has she fallen in love with him at this point or not?
• Is she aware of how dangerous she is? Is she aware of her father’s experiment with her or with Giovanni?
• Is she worried that Giovanni suspects something is amiss, or does she believe he is blissfully unaware?
• Ensure your journal entry matches the voice and character of Beatrice as portrayed by Hawthorne in “Rappaccini’s Daughter.”

Share your journal entry with your class.

Teaching Suggestion: It might be helpful to have some examples of journal entries available for students to examine prior to writing their own journal entries.