1 / 11

The Minister’s Black Veil

The Minister’s Black Veil. A Parable by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Nathaniel Hawthorne. 1804 – 1864 Born in Salem, Massachusetts Descended from a prominent Puritan family Believed that evil was a dominant force in the world. His fiction expresses a gloomy vision of human affairs.

Download Presentation

The Minister’s Black Veil

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. The Minister’s Black Veil A Parable by Nathaniel Hawthorne

  2. Nathaniel Hawthorne • 1804 – 1864 • Born in Salem, Massachusetts • Descended from a prominent Puritan family • Believed that evil was a dominant force in the world. • His fiction expresses a gloomy vision of human affairs.

  3. Inherited Guilt • One of Hawthorne’s ancestors was a Puritan judge who played a key role in the Salem witchcraft trials. • Another ancestor was a judge known for his persecution of Quakers. • Both Hawthorne’s character and focus as a writer were shaped by a sense of inherited guilt. • He was haunted by the intolerance and cruelty of ancestors. • He was not a Puritan and was born 112 years after the Salem witchcraft trials.

  4. Nathaniel Hawthorne • Master of symbolism and allegory • He wrote throughout his life. • After graduating from Maine’s Bowdoin College in 1825, he wrote a novel, Fanshawe. • Soon after the book’s anonymous publication in 1828, he was seized by shame and abruptly burned most available copies of his book.

  5. The Minister’s Black Veil: A Parable • Parable: a simple, usually brief , story that teaches a moral lesson. • A type of Allegory which is a story with both a literal and a symbolic meaning. • In subtitling this story “A Parable,” Hawthorne indicates that the moral lesson it conveys is important.

  6. Connecting Literary Elements • The veil that Mr. Hooper vows never to remove is a symbol – something that has meaning in itself while also standing for something greater. • To understand the message expressed, analyze veil’s symbolic meaning. • Revealed through responses of parishioners • Revealed in minister’s own deathbed explanation.

  7. Reading Strategy • Draw inferences about meaning. • When message of work of fiction is conveyed indirectly through symbols, the reader must draw inferences, or conclusions. • Look closely at details, especially descriptions and dialogue.

  8. Inference • Drawing inferences is a way of interpreting a character’s behavior, statements, or an author’s message. • Description Dialogue: • “He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face.” • Inference: Villagers are frightened by the veil.

  9. Vocabulary • venerable: adj. commanding respect p. 342 • iniquity: n. sin; wickedness (p.343) • indecorous: adj. improper (p. 343) • ostentatious: adj. intended to attract notice; showy (p. 343). • sagacious: adj. shrewd; perceptive (p. 343)

  10. Vocabulary • vagary: n. unpredictable occurrence p. 344 • tremulous: adj. characterized by trembling (p. 345) • waggery: n. mischievous humor (p.345) • impertinent: adj. not showing proper respect (p. 346) • obstinacy: n. stubbornness

  11. Connecting to the Literature • A secret, when kept too long can take on a mysterious significance. • It can cause people to fill in the missing story and draw their own untrue conclusions. • In “The Minister’s Black Veil,” a Puritan parson keeps a secret from an entire village for his whole life.

More Related