Nathaniel Hawthorne and Literary Humor

Lesson Plan Three of the Curriculum Unit: American Literary Humor: Mark Twain, George Harris, and Nathaniel Hawthorne

Introduction

Guiding Question

• What place does Nathaniel Hawthorne have in the history of American literary humor?

Learning Objectives

• Analyze the use of literary conventions and devices to develop character and point of view in the short story
• Discuss the purposes and significance of literary humor
• Examine Hawthorne's style of humor in relation to that of other American humorists

Background Information for the Teacher

Preparing to Teach this Lesson

• Review the lesson plan and the websites used throughout. Locate and bookmark suggested materials and websites. Download and print out documents you will use and duplicate copies as necessary for student viewing.
• Additional background and preparatory information is available in the Curriculum Unit Overview. Even if teaching this lesson plan as a single lesson, the material listed in the Overview contains valuable contextual material.
• Students can access the primary source materials and some of the activity materials via the EDSITEment LaunchPad.
• The full text of "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is available via the EDSITEment-reviewed Nathaniel Hawthorne website.

Suggested Activities

1. Setting the Stage

2. Narrating the Tale

3. Determining the Target

Introduce students to Hawthorne's background, using the resources outlined above and in the Curriculum Unit Overview, with specific attention to his biography and the events of his life using the Interactive Timeline (choose Life & Literary Career).

Ask students what Hawthorne tales they might have already read, and what the general tone of those stories was. Have them read (or assign the night before) "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment," by Nathaniel Hawthorne, available in the electronic text of Twice-Told Tales at the EDSITEment-reviewed Nathaniel Hawthorne website.

Ask students to first consider the story from a broad perspective. What is the tone of "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment"? Is Hawthorne's story scary or amusing? Have them select at least 2 brief passages from the text to explain their answer (either in groups during class, or individually at home during their at-home reading).

Answers may range from "moralistic" to "haunting," or from "silly" to "amusing." Whatever their reaction, make sure that students point to specific passages—single lines or several sentences—to back up their claim. Have them read the passage out loud to the class. While Hawthorne, because of his common themes and style, is rarely thought of as a humorist, there are several passages in this story that suggest that Hawthorne's tongue was placed firmly in cheek. Certainly the story carries with it certain clear moral implications, yet he appears to adopt a satiric, rather than strictly gothic, tone for the tale.

Students might select something like:

But it was well known to be a book of magic; and once, when a chambermaid had lifted it, merely to brush away the dust, the skeleton had rattled in its closet, the picture of the young lady had stepped one foot upon the floor, and several ghastly faces had peeped forth from the mirror; while the brazen head of Hippocrates frowned, and said—"Forbear!"

Or

Now Dr. Heidegger was a very strange old gentleman, whose eccentricity had become the nucleus for a thousand fantastic stories. Some of these fables, to my shame be it spoken, might possibly be traced back to my own veracious self; and if any passages of the present tale should startle the reader's faith, I must be content to bear the stigma of a fiction monger

Regardless if they choose this latter passage, turn to it after a few passages have been discussed and ask students to consider the narrator of the tale. What do we know of the narrator?

2. Narrating the Tale

Who is the narrator? Refer again to the following passage, and have a student read it out loud.

Now Dr. Heidegger was a very strange old gentleman, whose eccentricity had become the nucleus for a thousand fantastic stories. Some of these fables, to my shame be it spoken, might possibly be traced back to my own veracious self; and if any passages of the present tale should startle the reader's faith, I must be content to bear the stigma of a fiction monger.

• What is a "fiction monger?"
• What does the narrator mean when he says he "must be content to bear the stigma of a fiction monger"?
• Is the narrator distancing himself from the disreputable characters in his story, as Mark Twain and Harris did with theirs?

• Is there a role for Hawthorne's narrator in their dramatization of the story?
• Where does the narrator stand in relation to the action he describes?
• Is he the storyteller, like Simon Wheeler; an audience, like the narrators created by Twain and Harris; or simply an observer of the action, like Hawthorne's reader?

• To what extent is Dr. Heidegger a satirist who "stages" this experiment to reveal his victims' weaknesses?
• How does the narrator compare to Dr. Heidegger? How do they differ? Do they reflect similar or different social circumstances? [Note to teachers: both are, in a sense, selling their stories, which are also both arguably experiments with an outcome of moral education.]
• To what extent can he be compared to a storyteller like Simon Wheeler?
• To what extent can he be compared to a trickster like Jim Smiley or Sut Lovingood?

• How does the story's structure influence our perception of Hawthorne's characters? Do they seem like "storybook" characters? realistic? fanciful?

3. Determining the Target

Humorists generally have a target; they make jokes at someone's expense. Ask students: Who is the target in Hawthorne's story? Though a more refined humorist than Harris and Twain, Hawthorne is also targeting an element or aspect of American society for ridicule. But who is Hawthorne's target?

• Is the story told at the expense of old people, like those whom Dr. Heidegger invites to taste the waters of the fountain of youth? To what extent does Hawthorne's use of allegorical elements, like the fountain of youth, bring a broader target into view? What does Dr. Heidegger's experiment reveal about "people in general"?
• What is the "moral" of Hawthorne's story? Is there a similar kind of "moral" in this sense to the stories of Harris and Twain? Should there be?

Assessment

If the class only completed this lesson from the curriculum unit, have one group argue the value of Hawthorne's story as a dark, gothic morality tale, while the other group argues the value of the story as a humorous satire.

If the class fulfilled all steps of the curriculum unit, have one group argue that moral humor like Hawthorne's is superior to the often amoral humor of the folk tale and gossip tradition. Have the other group argue that Hawthorne's style of humor pales in comparison to that provided by humorists like Harris and Twain.

Extending the Lesson

Previous Lesson Plan

Return to the Curriculum Unit Overview—American Literary Humor: Mark Twain, George Harris, and Nathaniel Hawthorne

Selected EDSITEment Websites

• Hawthorne in Salem
  [http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/]
  • biography
    [http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/Life&Times/Introduction.html]
  • Interactive Timeline
    [http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/timeline/Introduction.html]
• Nathaniel Hawthorne
  [http://eldritchpress.org/nh/hawthorne.html]
  • Dr. Heidegger's Experiment
    [http://eldritchpress.org/nh/dhe.html]