Notes on Introduction
1. "The Custom House" and its direct significance to the novel 2. The writer's position (job) and attitude 3. How Custom House fits into The Scarlet Letter 4. What this work accomplished for Hawthorne
You may paraphrase or write them so they make sense to you
A topic slide will indicate a new heading.
By today s standards Custom House is dry reading. Custom House is a necessary part of the work and in itself an example of the best of Hawthorne's writing.
Email or submit movie response -(on teacher table) Float Clean up-be kind and be there Review Custom House - take note as we go. Huck Finn - Read 1-15 due November 1 Chapters 1-4 Quiz Tuesday (Scarlet Letter) Notecard due date begins next Wednesday
Written to lengthen the tale of The Scarlet Letter - since Hawthorne deemed the story too short to print by itself.
The Custom House is largely an autobiographical sketch describing Hawthorne's life as an administrator of the Salem Custom House.
The Custom House adopts an intimate tone It brings in issues that were pertinent to Americans of the day--a time when society was changing rapidly Industrialization changing roles for women revolutions in Europe blind partisan politics in a democracy at home
Generally, what were the topics of early American writers? Readers wanted some way to identify with an author's personality, and to be able to state that American authors could be as good as British.
Readers were not completely comfortable with a strong work of pure fiction. Hawthorne makes up a little story about finding a scarlet letter and some papers in an attic.
In almost mystical moment, the narrator puts the letter to his chest, prompting an explosion of heat and feeling.
Custom House The story found red A Frame sets up the situation The story is set within the frame
He constructs some fake authenticity All through the book Hawthorne plays with the difference between truth and illusion or fiction he states opinions as a narrator firmly then points out that readers can have different interpretations.
People in the Custom House are degenerates--much too weak and unsatisfactory compared with the goals and achievements of their Puritan forefathers. To write this story Hawthorne does not report facts, he paints an artistic picture-- he writes what he calls a Romance (note the subtitle of the book).
The book serves both as social criticism by those who see that in the text, and as a work of art that will outlast the petty concerns of everyday political life in Salem.
In two minutes you will write as many complete sentences as you can on the following topic: Generally, how would you describe the significance or purpose of the Custom House introduction?
Overview of Custom House
He has just been fired from his job his mother has died he has a family to support in the past he has never been able to provide for his family by writing alone
He planed a collection of old pieces with this new long story. Although it seems that Hawthorne intended to make the book big enough to sell by enlarging this introduction, he had already written (to Longfellow) that he planned a revenge in print for his firing.
He has never written a successful novel before (Fanshawe was published anonymously at the author's expense, withdrawn, and almost all copies destroyed)
The sketch was given to the publisher along with most of the novel--the final three chapters made it long enough He bases the book on what is familiar to him in his birthplace, Salem, Massachusetts, BUT the story itself takes place in Boston (where he has also lived).
The political controversy around Hawthorne's firing, and the reaction of Salem readers to the telling descriptions of some old Custom House employees, no doubt boosted initial sales of the book. In its time the controversy was a scandal about which people wanted to learn more
The politics of the day governed Hawthorne's job as Surveyor. Hawthorne was a Democrat and supporter of Presidents Jackson, Polk, and Pierce. Most of the Salem voters belonged to the Whig party, the successor to the old Federalist Party of John Adams ("the elder Adams" to distinguish him from his son John Quincy Adams).
Hawthorne was considered by some as radical Democrat. Hawthorne tried to use his political connections to get and keep political jobs
He didn't actively campaign for candidates, and he claims that he was not really an active Democrat. Salem neighborhoods of the period were more or less controlled by political machines, complete with parades, clubhouses, newspapers, elaborate rallies, and jobs for workers.
Hawthorne (as narrator) was granted the position of chief executive officer of the Custom House through the president's commission. He was fired from that position leaving him financially in trouble He was bitter
Hawthorne turns the bad event of being fired around and writes a great book.
Hawthorn goes on at length in what appears to be a humorous sketch of his surroundings in his workplace, the Custom House In fact the sketch is a concealed attack on his political enemies and a personal justification as a man and a novelist.
The book is not about the dismal reality of this Custom House Rather an art he creates a world existing only in his imagination
Participation - Write for one minute please use complete sentences What was Hathorne s purpose? Write about as many reasons as you can recall, why Hawthorne wrote this novel.
Hawthorne wanders metaphorically around like a friendly host showing his garden the dingy, run down custom house
The introduction also sets a mood and tone for beginning the book
Establishes the point of view as narrator, but as creator of fiction as an editor of a fictitious narrative found in an attic.
Hawthorn gives information about what a Romance is intended to be. This whole scene of a sleepy, backward port, in a nation in a decay of democracy, will be contrasted shortly with the vigorous and righteous Puritan society that was founded to escape from such corruption.
Hawthorne was victimized by being fired--just as Hester was made a victim--
Serves as an excellent essay on society during Hawthorne's times Allows Hawthorne to add an imaginative literary device, the romantic pretense of having discovered the manuscript of The Scarlet Letter in the Custom House.
His analysis of the place is harsh and critical.
Through his great art, a world existing only in his imagination, he reflects on his world
He describes his staff as a bunch of tottering old men who rarely rise out of their chairs and who spend each day sleeping or talking softly to one another.
Hawthorne tells the reader that he could not bring himself to fire any of them, so after he assumed leadership, things stayed the same.
Salem is a port city that failed to mature into a major harbor. The streets and buildings are dilapidated, the townspeople are very sober and old, and grass grows between the cobblestones. The Custom House serves the small ship traffic going through the port, but it is usually a quiet place requiring only minimal work.
The connection between Salem and the Puritans is made early on. Hawthorne's family originally settled in Salem, and he is a direct descendent of several notable ancestors.
He describes his ancestors as severe Puritans decked out in black robes, laying harsh judgment upon people who strayed from their faith.
Hawthorne is reverent and mocking, jokingly wondering how an idler such as himself could have born from such noble lineage.
Much of the story then deals with long descriptions of the various men with whom he worked in the Custom House.
The upstairs of the Custom House was designed to accommodate a large movement of goods through the port it is in ill repair
Hawthorne says that the large upstairs hall was used to store documents Here that he finds an unusual package.
The package contains some fabric with a faded letter A imprinted on the cloth Some papers describing the entire story behind the letter. This is the story that Hawthorne claims is the basis for The Scarlet Letter.
Indeed, the sin of adultery has long since been committed by the time we arrive at the first page of the narrative proper
Perhaps the most compelling event in The Custom-House comes when the narrator discovers a scarlet letter on a small piece of cloth along with the set of papers that become the foundation of his novel.
It resembles more a tract or a personal essay than an introduction to a piece of fiction, but it offers plenty of insights that will support the rest of The Scarlet Letter.
Participation. Tell as much as you know about how the Custom House fits into the fabric of the novel The Scarlet Letter. What are some of the ways it leads into The Scarlet Letter.
Hawthorne s home in Concord, MA Hawthorne finishes The Custom-House with a description of his life since leaving his job as Surveyor, and comments
"it may be... that the great-grandchildren of the present race may sometimes think kindly of the scribbler of bygone days."
Readers get a sense of why the narrator feels the need to tell the story.
As a man of youth and vigor, he feels somewhat at odds with the Puritan nature of his society. He himself seems to feel a deep resentment for the strict fidelity to rules and values that would deem his whole personality, and his ambition to write, as frivolous or even sinful.
A reader requires some adjustment to Hawthorne's highbrow language in this chapter. It is remarkably ornate, laden with adjectives and adverbs, and with rich vocabulary.
Hawthorne is more concerned with feelings, thoughts, and emotions of earlier times rather than with the unfolding of a realtime story
The style presents one of the first examples of distinctly American writing, with its own history and stories and language.
In this recollection, the narrator establishes why the story must be told why we the reader want to hear it
Scarlet letter possesses a power which must be unlocked which demands to be heard.
This device has been used commonly in literature that is, when someone discovers an ancient artifact, it retains some of its power, and the finder has the responsibility to put it to rest.
Can you think of any books or films that used this devise?
In this case the narrator, despite his lazy approach to work and his lack of responsibility to his job and country,
awakened to his mission accepts it reveals it to us (the mystery of the letter) no matter the consequences
The story lives on from one generation to another
In the end, The Scarlet Letter: A Romance was a big success the first American novel that made money by popular sales supported the author for a few years until he could get another political job
What is a simile? What is a metaphor?
A comparison of two UNLIKE things - Make a connection Mothers are just she-bears when it comes to their children. They will attack anything that might hurt their cub!
Based on all you have learned about the Custom House introduction, Hawthorne and the success of this work Create your own metaphor or simile and expand on it The Custom house is. Or The Custom house is like
Share with the class if you please?.
Be sure your written responses and metaphor or simile are left in the tray as you exit class today or emailed to kspringstead@buchananschools.com