ENGLISH 2231: American Literature 1

Weekly Calendar: Week Twelve (Nov 13 - 17)

Anthology Readings

Web Resources

Activities

Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne

Don't Forget: Evaluation Webpage Two

is due this week. It should be sent to me as an email attachment by 3 PM on Nov 16. After the pages are posted, I hope you will visit the pages of your colleagues to see how they responded to the question and how they designed their pages.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne is traditionally seen as one of the giants of 19th century American literature (Baym et al. 1247-1250). As the Slate article below and the 1995 movie of his novel The Scarlet Letter suggest, his work continues to interest readers and thinkers almost a century and a half after his death.

After completing "Rappaccini's Daughter" (Hawthorne 1313-1333), I encourage everyone to begin next week's readings.  I have only assigned one Hawthorne story in order to give everyone more time to read the sections from Thoreau's Walden that we will discuss next week. You might also read the websites on Transcendentalism early; some knowledge of Transcendentalism will help you understand part of the joke in the preface Hawthorne wrote to "Rappaccini's Daughter."

is another page created by Prof. Paul Reuben. Please look at the sections titled "Major Themes," "Influences," "Hawthorne as Literary Artist," and "Novel vs. Romance."

from the "Literature, Arts, and Medicine Database" of New York University, emphasizes the issues of science and medicine in the story.

An article in Slate from January 2002, connects Hawthorne's writing to current events in the U.S. government.

Activities
(Due Dates/Times for all Activities are on the right side of the page)


Click on the "Discussion" link in the course's D2L navbar and answer the following question on the "Hawthorne/Romanticism/Gothicism" discussion board:

Would you place "Rappaccini's Daughter" in the general category of the romantic or in the more specific category of the gothic? Use information from the story and the websites on the story, on romanticism, and on gothicism to explain your answer.  Be sure to refer to at least one other posting as you make your points.


Click on the "Discussion" link in the course's D2L navbar and answer the following question on the "Hawthorne and Theme" discussion board:

We have not discussed the idea of theme in much detail this semester. Theme is thought of as the statement that a piece of literature is trying to make about its subject matter. It can be thought of as the message or main idea that a piece of literature is trying to convey.  The websites I have offered this week all deal in some way with what they think is the theme of "Rappaccini's Daughter."  What do you think is the theme of this story?  Please explain your response with evidence from the story itself, from one of the websites at left, or from any other source you would like to reference.  Additionally, please refer to at least one other posting on the Discussion.

As you read the anthology and the web resources, please consider the following questions and ideas.

Be sure to have a clear understanding of these terms which may arise in our discussion:

Click the "Chat" link in the D2L navbar and go to the "ENGL 2231" chat.

Please contact me if you have any questions about this week's readings, web resources, or activities.

Contact Gill