Scene #2

Hey!

This is the first scene in which we see Mr. Griffiths in a classroom setting. As for the camera angle, he is positioned in front of the classroom. He is standing up above all the students who are sitting down. The light again this time is natural, but now is coming from the windows. The sunny day brightens the room and the mood, but he still looks like the authority figure, as this is the way in which teachers are often portrayed (standing in front of a classroom full of students in rows).

He introduces the next novel his students will be reading: The Scarlet Letter. He uses humor again, while also informing the students about the difficulty level of the text: "Nathaniel Hawthorne is a complex writer. I even struggled with him, but then again I was 5 when I read it." This quote evoked laughter from the students, and he then surprised them by asking one of the students to create a beat. He begins rapping: "Adultery, vengeance, crime of passion," but soon stops and jokes that he sounds silly. But, now he has the students full attention. They have began the class laughing and are interested in what he's going to do/say next. So, he explains that students need background knowledge: "what we have to realize is that Hester lived in a different time period where the worst crime any woman could commit was adultery."

Conflict then arises between two female students: Nina, a Catholic girl who is part of the Christian society against sex before marriage, and Olive, a girl who is rumored to have had sex with an older man. There is name calling, and Mr. Griffith's classroom management strategy is to kick the girls out of class and send them to the Principal's office.

So, again we see that Mr. Griffiths is funny and engaging, but he is also respected and is strict when it comes to running a classroom.

Mr. Griffiths in front of the classroom with a serious expression on his face. We can see that there is writing on the board, meaning that he has given explanations about different parts of the novel.