The Age of Innocence Lesson Plan

Happy Endings

Kind of Activity:

Creative Writing

Objective:

Students will consider the impact of the story's ending and imagine other conclusions the story might have had.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3

Structure:

The last chapter of the novel skips ahead twenty-five years, showing the results of the staid, conventional life Newland lived with May. At the very end of the chapter, Newland is given to opportunity to see Ellen again. Neither of them are married, and society has changed, so nothing is keeping them apart. Newland, however, chooses at the last minute to walk away from Ellen and not see her. This provides...