The Necklace

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What was life like in Paris in the 19th century?

Teaching Suggestion: Students may want to brainstorm and share what they know about the period from history and/or geography classes, television, film, and/or books before they conduct individual or small group background research. The resources below could be an effective starting point for that research; they provide photographs and information about social classes to bolster students’ understanding of the story’s historical context. Students could list details they notice and group them into categories to make inferences about the period. If the photographs are printed, students could sort them and then label the categories they identify. To help students visualize as they read the final scene of the story, they might review key phrases from the New York Times article or a similar resource.

• This webpage from San Jose State University details Parisian social classes in the 19th century.
• This brief NPR article and collection of images discusses the changes Paris underwent in the 19th century to modernize the city.
• This photography collection presents images from 19th century Paris.
• This New York Times article explores the Champs Elysées, the location of the final scene of the story. (Subscription may be needed for viewing.)

2. How does money affect society?

Teaching Suggestion: Throughout the story, a central concern for Mathilde is money and material items. With sensitivity in mind for individual circumstances, students may want to discuss their opinions and provide examples from their own lives, history, or the news in pairs or small groups before sharing with the whole group. An exploration of the resources below may provide examples and ideas that yield new insights and strengthen pre-existing ones. Students may then apply the ideas generated from the discussion and resources into a journal entry. Also, listing key ideas to connect to the short story can help guide reading. During reading, the class could return to these ideas to see how they are affecting the characters.

• In “Are We Genetically Inclined To Be Materialistic?” NPR offers a 5-minute audio and a short interview exploring materialism and human nature.
• In the poem “Satisfied,” Theodore Weiss’s speaker muses about dissatisfaction.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the story.

When does pride become harmful? Discuss your ideas based on experiences or observations.

Teaching Suggestion: It could be helpful for students to freewrite about pride before listening to the speech, reading the article, and having class discussion. Then, students can return to their freewriting to add new ideas generated from their exploration of the resources. This practice can help students develop complexity and nuance in their ideas and enable them to recognize how examples can strengthen and shift arguments.

• In “Pride Comes Before a Fall,” Polo Onguru speaks for 6 minutes about pride, when it becomes dangerous, and how to avoid letting pride lead to tragedy.
• This Scientific American article explores the benefits of and problems with pride.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students who would benefit from additional research or persuasive writing could expand this activity into a paper or speech. They can use the resources here and find one additional one, practice taking notes, organizing their ideas, citing sources, writing, and revising.