The Notorious Benedict Arnold

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

Pre-Reading “Icebreaker”

Describe a time when someone—you, someone you know, or a fictional character—was tempted to seek revenge. What caused the desire for revenge? What kind of revenge did the person want? Did the person go through with the plan or not, and what were the consequences?

Teaching Suggestion: If you ask students to discuss this question aloud or to share their written responses to the prompt, establish ground rules ahead of time for what kinds of topics are off-limits. After discussing how Blinding the Desire for Revenge can be, challenge students to explore whether revenge is always wrong and forgoing revenge is always right, and ask what the difference is between “revenge” and “punishment.” 

Post-Reading Analysis

Many people in The Notorious Benedict Arnold are motivated by ambition. Choose two characters whose actions are clearly influenced by their ambition and compare and contrast these two people on the following points:

• What circumstances motivated these people to be ambitious? Did Social or Economic Class influence their Ambition?
• What did these people want to achieve?
• What did these people imagine would be better about their lives once they achieved their goals?
• What method did these people use to try to achieve their goals?
• Did these people succeed? What caused them to either succeed or fail?
• What impact did their ambition have on others?

Teaching Suggestion: This prompt can be answered at length, in the form of an essay, or more briefly, in the form of a paragraph—or even as a visual representation such as a T-chart. It can also be used as a partner or small-group activity. For students needing more of a challenge, consider asking them to use their work to prove a thesis about ambition, such as “Some forms of ambition are more selfish than others,” or “Ambition can inspire others or it can harm them, depending on the choices an ambitious person makes.”