Short Stories

1
Short Stories

• Monday Aug. 29

2
Agenda

• Thinker
• Begin Ministers Black Veil
• Homework

3
Thinker

• Write a paragraph about someone who is two faced.
  Show how they have two sides.

4
The Minister's Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Introducing the Story Literary Focus
Symbol Reading Skills Drawing Inferences
5
The Minister's Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne
There is the fear that we shant prove worthy in
the eyes of someone who knows us at least as well
as we know ourselves. . . . Robert Frost
(18741963)
6
The Minister's Black Veil Meet the Writer
Although he struggled both creatively and
financially, Nathaniel Hawthorne (18041864)
earned recognition as a writer and the admiration
of his contemporaries. Yet his dark insights into
the human heart seemed to reflect an inner gloom
that he never overcame.
More About the Writer
7
The Minister's Black Veil Background
Like much of Hawthornes best work, this story is
set in the time of his Puritan ancestors, an era
he said was noted for its gloom and piety.
According to Hawthorne, the black veilalthough
not its meaning in the storyis based on the
eccentricity of a real person.

• A New England clergyman named Mr. Joseph Moody
  accidentally killed a beloved friend.

• From that day until his death, he hid his face
  from other people.

8
Puritanism

• Puritans believed that belief in Jesus and
  participation in the sacraments could not alone
  effect one's salvation.
• Believed in severe punishment for sinning.
• Life should revolve around religion and the
  reading of the Bible and the interpretation of
  it.
• No one should call attention to themselves,
  neither in life or worshipdid not use candles or
  symbols in their services.

9
The Minister's Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Mr. Hooper, a young Puritan clergyman, shocks his
congregation by appearing at the church one
Sunday in a black veil.

• Why, the people wonder fearfully, is their
  minister hiding his face?

• Is the veil related to the topic of Mr. Hoopers
  sermonsecret sin?

10
The Minister's Black Veil Literary Focus Symbol
A symbol is something that

• has meaning in itself

• also stands for something beyond itself

love
passage of time
peace
11
The Minister's Black Veil Literary Focus Symbol
Hawthornes central symbol in this story is a
black veil.
Notice how Hawthornes descriptions of the veil
suggest its symbolic importance.
horrible
gloomy shade
mysterious emblem
12
The Minister's Black Veil Reading Skills
Drawing Inferences
When you read a story, you make inferences about
characters and events.
An inference is an educated guess based on

• clues in the text

• your own knowledge and experience

13
The Minister's Black Veil Background
Hawthornes subtitle, A Parable, indicates the
importance of the storys moral theme.
A parable is a short, usually simple story

• based on events from ordinary life

• containing a moral lesson

14
The Minister's Black Veil Background
Famous Parables
One of the most famous parables is that of the
Good Samaritan, who stops and helps a stranger
who has been robbed and beaten. Today we still
call caring strangers good Samaritans.
The Good Samaritan by Vincent van Gogh, after
Delacroix
15

• Poe called the work a masterly composition,
  but suggested that only the most sensitive
  readers would be able to glean the true import of
  the narrative and see beyond the obvious moral of
  the story.

16
Prompt

• In what ways do you think we all wear a black
  veil/mask?