“The Necklace”: Pre-Reading Activity

Directions: Read the text below, then record your response to the prompt in the space provided. Be prepared to share your thoughts.

We group people in society based on social classes. A social class is a group of people with similar wealth, influence, and status. The aristocracy is a social class that rose to prominence in Europe during the 18th century. Aristocrats had more wealth, power and influence than any other social class. Many of them were part of Europe’s nobility, which meant they had titles like Duke and Duchess, or Count and Countess. These titles were either given to people to honor them or passed down to them as part of their family tradition and heritage.

Aristocrats in the past had huge influence on how the royalty and governments ruled over the country, as they usually held a great deal of the nation's wealth. With so much money they tended to live a life of leisure, throwing lavish parties and expensive balls. These exclusive social gatherings were important to the aristocracy. They were often seen an as opportunity for members of the aristocracy to show off their wealth. Beauty was also a mark of social class, and women would compete with one another to see who could wear the most elaborate dress and the most expensive jewelry.

Guy de Maupassant’s short story “The Necklace” is about a beautiful woman who believes she should be a member of the French aristocracy. With this in mind, consider the following statement:

Beautiful people are treated differently.

Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Explain your perspective.
Your response needs to be 5-7 sentences long. Please use BLUE ink when typing your response.