Teaching Vanity Fair

Instructions for You

Objective: In Chapter 28 of Vanity Fair, Amelia writes to her mother about the horrid dinner with Countess of Bareacres, but dear mumsy doesn't really seem to care too much. In this activity, we'll have our own darlings write a script between the two women, imagining that Amelia had gone to talk to her mother rather than writing to her. What if Amelia and her mother had had a conversation? What would they say to each other in person? What does Amelia's mom have to say about the dinner, the Countess, and their horrid treatment of her daughter? Is she sympathetic, or does she say, "Suck it up, dear, that's the price of admission to high society?"

Give your students about an hour total to write their two to three page (400 to 600 word) scripts, and if they can perform the scene when they're finished, all the better.

Materials Needed: Paper, pencil, and a copy of Vanity Fair for reference; optionally, you can also direct students to Shmoop's summary of the book.

Step 1: Poor Amelia! She's feeling humiliated and bruised by how the Bareacres have treated her. Who wouldn't write their mom looking for a little understanding? Amelia writes to her mother and gets a most unexpected reply. We're going to mix it up by imagining what would happen if Amelia went home instead, flopped on the couch, and bawled her eyes to mom.

It's probably a good idea to review the scene first, so have students re-read Chapter 28.

Step 2: Once they've had a chance to review the text, ask your students to write short answers in their notebooks to the following questions:

• What's Amelia so upset about?
• Why does it matter to Amelia?
• What's her mother's reaction? Why would she react this way?
• What do you think Amelia thinks of her mom's reaction?

Step 3: Now let's turn 'em loose. Ask your students to partner up to write a two to three page (400 to 600 word) script. One student will take Amelia's part and write her lines, and the other should play Momma. As they're writing, make sure that their scripts:

• are 400 – 600 words and use language and dialect appropriate to the time period. (Check out our Quotes page to see what we mean.)
• really reflect both Amelia and her mother's stances. What emotions would each character feel during this conversation? They should refer to the notes from their brainstorming session for help.
• include directions for tone; would their voices be raised at any point?
• address how this conversation would be resolved (if at all).

Step 4: If there's time, before they turn in their scripts, have students act out their work.

Instructions for Your Students

Amelia needs her mother's support, and her mom is having none of it. The Bareacres are super rude to Amelia, and in her letter home, Ameilia's pretty upset about it. Mrs. Sedley, however, doesn't seem all that bothered by how her daughter has been treated. It's pretty sad, if you ask us.

Anyway, you'll pretend that instead of a letter, Amelia goes home to cry on her mom's shoulder. What would transpire between the two women? How would Momma react? What would she say to her humiliated daughter? You get to tell us by writing a two to three page (400 to 600 word) script of the encounter.

Your teacher may ask you to act this out, so keep it school apropes and stay in character. Let's get going.

Step 1: Poor Amelia! She's feeling humiliated and bruised by how the Bareacres have treated her. Who wouldn't write their mom looking for a little understanding? Amelia writes to her mother and gets a pretty unexpected reply. We're going to mix it up by pretending Amelia goes home instead, flops on the couch, and bawls her eyes out to mom.

It's a good idea to go over the scene first, so re-read Chapter 28 to refresh your memory.

Step 2: Question time. In your notebook, write down some brief responses to the following:

• What's Amelia so upset about?
• Why does it matter to Amelia?
• What's her mother's reaction? Why would Mrs. Sedley react this way?
• What do you think Amelia thinks of her mom's reaction?

Step 3: You've got the general gist of things, so now let's turn you loose. Partner up with a class buddy to write a 400 to 600 word script of the conversation between Amelia and her mom. Think about encounters you've had with your own parents when you wanted them to take your side and they didn't. Yeah, it stinks.

One student will take Amelia's part and write her lines, and the other will come up with Momma's lines. As you're writing, make sure that your script:

• is 400 – 600 words and uses language and dialect appropriate to the time period. (Check out our Quotes page to see what we mean.)
• really reflects both Amelia and her mother's stances. What emotions would each character feel during this conversation? You can refer to your brainstorming notes for help here.
• includes directions for tone; would their voices be raised at any point?
• addresses how this conversation would be resolved (if at all.)

Step 4: If you have time before you turn in your scripts, your teacher may ask you to act out your work, so be ready to share.