These prompts can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before or after reading the novel.

Pre-Reading “Icebreaker”

Ethan Frome is technically a first-person narrative, with the novel’s speaker—an outsider to the community—reconstructing Ethan’s story as best he can. Imagine your own life story is being told, either in book or movie form. Who would you choose to write or direct it, and why?

Teaching Suggestion: Perspective and subjectivity are key issues in Ethan Frome, even informing the novel’s premise: The numerous parallels between the narrator and Ethan probably help pique the former’s interest in the latter but may also color his interpretation of Frome’s story. Use this prompt to get students thinking about the role framing plays in a story’s meaning(s). Have they selected the writer/director they believe would depict their story most faithfully, or are factors beyond strict accuracy important in conveying the “truth” of their experiences?

• “Make It Short: Edith Wharton’s Modernist Practices in Her Short Stories” is a scholarly discussion of Wharton’s use of unreliable narrators in the context of modernist literature.
• “Unreliable Narrators” from It’s Lit features a series of visual essays from PBS Digital Studios.
• A New Yorker article,