Aim: How does "The Prison Door" reveal Hawthorne's feelings about the Puritans?

Objective: To introduce students to the way Hawthorne uses symbolism to communicate his feelings about the Puritans.

Procedure:

Teachers can use one or both of the following activities (1 and 2) to introduce Puritanism and Hawthorne's feelings towards the Puritans.

1. Show this PowerPoint presentation concerning the Puritans.
2. Have students read about Hawthorne's attitude towards the Puritans.
3. Make a list on the board displaying what students understand about the Puritans and Hawthorne's attitude towards them (Answers include ideas such as overly religious, did not believe in fun or dancing or music, sinners are punished harshly, Hawthorne was horrified by his ancestors, he thought religion produced evil) .
4. Students should read Chapter 1, "The Prison Door".
5. Students should look for ideas in this chapter that support what they see on the board. What symbols does Hawthorne use to reveal his feelings about the nature of the Puritans?
6. Discussion could go as follows:

How does the chapter's use of symbols testify to the contradictions inherent in Puritan society?

(Answers include a) there is a prison door in the Utopia b) the cemetery and prison share the same soil c) wooden jail with weathered stains because ideals were not built strongly d) iron looked antique to show that strong rules were from an older time and should not be used today e) the rose by the jail offering goodness to the prisoners who should not be there)

Possible final activity could include making a picture by hand or using Google to find pictures that symbolize Hawthorne's feelings towards the Puritans in "The Prison Door".