Throughout Unit 1, you have read literary and nonfiction works that evokes compassion or empathy in an
audience to inspire action or bring about a deeper understanding of the world. You will now apply what you
have observed about empathy and write a letter to the editor about an issue as though you are one of the
characters from the assigned readings. (You are NOT rewriting the story). Your purpose for writing this letter to
the editor is to persuade your audience of your claim and evoke compassion and empathy for your character.
For instance, you could write a letter to the editor from Miss Lottie's perspective on the lack of compassion and
respect in society.
SCENE II: ART IS AS NOTHING TO NATURE
1[Whitechapel Rd. A storefront. A large advertisement of a creature with an elephant’s head. ROSS, his
manager.]
2ROSS: Tuppence only, step in and see: This side of the grave, John Merrick has no hope nor expectation of
relief. In every sense his situation is desperate. His physical agony is exceeded only by his mental anguish, a
despised creature without consolation. Tuppence only, step in and see! To live with his physical hideousness,
incapacitating deformities and unremittingpain is trial enough, but to be exposed to the cruelly lacerating
expressions of horror and disgust by all who behold him—is even more difficult to bear. Tuppence only, step in
and see! For in order to survive, Merrick forces himself to suffer these humiliations, in order to survive, thus he
exposes himself to crowds who pay to gape and yawp at this freak of nature, the Elephant Man.
3[Enter TREVES who looks at advertisement.]
4ROSS: See Mother Nature uncorseted and in malignant rage! Tuppence.
5TREVES: The sign’s absurd. Half-elephant, half-man is not possible. Is he foreign?
6ROSS: Right, from Leicester. But nothing to fear.
7TREVES: I’m at the London across the road. I would be curious to see him if there is more genuine disorder.
If he is a mass of papier-maché and paint however—
8ROSS: Then pay me nothing. Enter sir. Merrick, stand up. Ya bloody donkey, up, up.
9[They go in, then emerge. TREVES pays.]
10TREVES: I must examine him further at the hospital. Here is my card. I’m Treves. I will have a cab pick him
up and return him. My card will gain him admittance.
11ROSS: Five bob he’s yours for the day.
12TREVES: I wish to examine him in the interests of science, you see.
13ROSS: Sir, I’m Ross. I look out for him, get him his living. Found him in Leicester workhouse. His own ma
put him there age of three. Couldn’t bear the sight, well you can see why. We—he and I—are in business. He
is our capital, see. Go to a bank. Go anywhere. Want to borrow capital, you pay interest. Scientists even. He’s
good value though. You won’t find another like him.
14TREVES: Fair enough. [He pays.]
15ROSS: Right. Out here, Merrick. Ya bloody donkey, out!
16[Lights fade out.]
SCENE III: WHO HAS SEEN THE LIKE OF THIS?
17[TREVES lectures. MERRICK contorts himself to approximate projected slides of the real Merrick.]
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18TREVES: The most striking feature about him was his enormous head. Its circumference was about that of a
man’s waist. From the brow there projected a huge bony mass like a loaf, while from the back of his head hung
a bag of spongy fungous-looking skin, the surface of which was comparable to brown cauliflower. On the top of
the skull were a few long lank hairs. The osseous growth on the forehead, at this stage about the size of a
tangerine, almost occluded one eye. From the upper jaw there projected another mass of bone. It protruded
from the mouth like a pink stump, turning the upper lip inside out, and making the mouth a wide slobbering
aperture. The nose was merely a lump of flesh, only recognizable as a nose from its position. The deformities
rendered the face utterly incapable of the expression of any emotion whatsoever. The back was horrible
because from it hung, as far down as the middle of the thigh, huge sacklike masses of flesh covered by the
same loathsome cauliflower stain. The right arm was of enormous size and shapeless. It suggested but was
not elephantiasis, and was overgrown also with pendant masses of the same cauliflower-like skin. The right
hand was large and clumsy—a fin or paddle rather than a hand. No distinction existed between the palm and
back, the thumb was like a radish, the fingers like thick tuberous roots. As a limb it was useless. The other arm
was remarkable by contrast. It was not only normal but was moreover a delicately shaped limb covered with a
fine skin and provided with a beautiful hand which any woman might have envied. From the chest hung a bag
of the same repulsive flesh. It was like a dewlap suspended from the neck of a lizard. The lower limbs had the
characters of the deformed arm. They were unwieldy, dropsical-looking, and grossly misshapen. There arose
from the fungous skin growths a very sickening stench which was hard to tolerate. To add a further burden to
his trouble, the wretched man when a boy developed hip disease which left him permanently lame, so that he
could only walk with a stick. [to MERRICK] Please. [MERRICK walks.] He was thus denied all means of escape
from his tormenters.
19VOICE: Mr. Treves, you have shown a profound and unknown disorder to us. You have said when he leaves
here it is for his exhibition again. I do not think it ought to be permitted. It is a disgrace. It is a pity and a
disgrace. It is an indecency in fact. It may be a danger in ways we do not know. Something ought to be done
about it.
20TREVES: I am a doctor. What would you have me do?
21VOICE: Well. I know what to do. I know.
22[Silence. A policeman enters as lights fade out.]
23Excerpted from The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance, published by Grove Press.
EXAMPLE:
Jennifer Wallace
Mrs. Michels
English 1, Part 1 College Prep 1 February 2019
Hooligans: Destroying the Neighborhood One Flowerbed at a Time By: Miss Lottie, “Marigolds”
My marigolds used to provide “a brilliant splash of sunny yellow against the dust” that prevails throughout our
town (Collier). Unfortunately, my marigolds have been utterly demolished, and their “perfect yellow blooms” are
no more (Collier). Some rude, insensitive individual has “leaped furiously into the mounds of marigolds and
pulled madly, trampling and pulling and destroying the perfect yellow blooms” (Collier). Over the years, I have
endured the indignation of all kinds of torture at the hands of hooligans, who masquerade as neighborhood
children, but I will suffer in silence no more. Someone must speak out against this willful destruction of
property. The children are not to blame. There is a complete lack of respect that exists within our community.
As a community, we must learn to respect one another and empathize with our neighbors’ plights. Respect
begins in our own backyard. We must work to beautify our community and ourselves. We must also teach our
children how to be empathetic to those around them.
Before we can respect each other, we must first respect ourselves. Even though our country is in the midst of a
great depression, and our community has been hit hard, we cannot let our current situation dictate our
happiness. We must find joy in our daily lives. For me, my joy was in my marigolds. There is just something
about being greeted each morning by their vibrant yellow blooms that would cause my worries to momentarily
evaporate. I believe that by working
Wallace 1
together we can create “lush green lawns” filled with a wide assortment of flowers that will combat the “arid,
sterile dust” that has contaminated our town. (Collier). We can work together to create a sense of pride
throughout the neighborhood. This will demonstrate to the children that we respect our community. Instead of
being filled with hatred for our current situation and feeling like our poverty is “a cage in which we all [are]
trapped,” we can be filled with pride for our beautiful yards and respect the hard work that our neighbors have
done to make our community better (Collier).
Furthermore, we need to teach the children of our community how to empathize with those around them. They
must learn that “you can never really understand a person…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”
(Lee). Until we are able to see the world from another person’s perspective, we will never be able to truly
understand them. Since everyone in our community will be working to beautify the neighborhood, the children
will be able to experience first-hand all the sweat, tears, and hard-work required to keep our yards in pristine
condition. After working day-in and day-out in the yards, they will think twice before they annihilate defenseless
flowers, whose only purpose, like the mockingbird, is to bring joy.
Therefore, it is of the upmost importance that we do not allow our current situations to hold us captive. We
must learn to overcome our frustration with our current predicament by learning to empathize with others. Our
children learn from us, and we must become better role models for them. If everyone works to “consider things
from [other people’s] point of view,” then we have taken the first step towards a better future (Lee). Once we
beautify our hearts, we can work together to beautify our neighborhood. Through working together, as a
community, we can ensure that the tragedy that struck down my marigolds will not destroy our most delicate
flowers: our children’s hearts.
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Works Cited
Collier, Eugenia. “Marigolds.” Brightspace. James Madison High School.
https://courses.ashworthcollege.edu/d2l/le/lessons/12032/topics/205530. Accessed 1
February 2019.
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Brightspace. James Madison High School.
https://courses.ashworthcollege.edu/d2l/le/lessons/12032/topics/216957. Accessed 1 February 2019.
Wallace 3
Sample Solution