1. Text to Text: Research melodrama as a form of theater. Read a traditional nineteenth-century melodrama. (American Melodrama by Daniel Gerould is an excellent collection. Works by Dion Boucicault are another suggestion.) Using the elements of melodrama discussed in the study guide, compare how each play uses the elements of melodrama, and from which elements they deviate. How does The Bells use elements of melodrama? How has melodrama evolved? Why do you think melodrama has survived as a form? Can you name any other modern melodramas?

2. Hot-Seating: Choose one student to take on the role of one of the characters. Have the other students question and interrogate this character on the actions and choices this character has made throughout the play. Have the class come up with several statements about this character and the choices they made.

3. The Alaskan Gold Rush: Have students research the period of the Alaskan Gold Rush, 1896-1914, and discuss what it would have been like to live at that time. From photographs, newspapers, maps, government letters and steamship logs, students can evaluate what it may have been like to undertake the journey of a gold miner who risked everything to find his fortune. Allow them to role-play as a gold miner and answer the following questions: What were you giving up and what were you hoping to gain by going to Alaska? What were your other options? How does one get the gold? What was a gold miner’s typical day like? Were there any moral or legal issues with gold mining? Students can explore photographs and actual manuals from the Alaskan Gold Rush era for clues about the rigors of gold mining. Students should consider how laws changed over time to reflect the needs and attitudes of the people.

4. The Beginning: Consider the role of Xuifei. What does the audience learn about him throughout the course of the play? Imagine you are writing a scene that takes place eighteen years before The Bells starts. How do you envision Xuifei and Annette acting with one another? Write a short scene that takes place before the death of Xuifei.

5. Tableau: Participants create a frozen picture that serves to crystallize an idea or to communicate a concrete image. These images may be brought to life or ‘thought-tracked’ by having individuals speak their inner thoughts. Have several students create a family portrait tableau. In what way can the students portray these characters’ thoughts and emotions through only this frozen picture? Keep the frozen portrait. Have each student talk in character about the other members of the family.