“The
Minister’s
Black Veil”
By Nathaniel Hawthorne
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Minister's_Black_Veil
Page 299
Who are
the
Puritans?
http://teammorganfreeman.blogspot.com/2010/10/ministers-black-veil-picture-roy.html
• What do they believe?
• What are they like as people?
• If their society was a “utopia,” what
rules and ideals would govern it?
Terms
Parable- short story designed to
teach some truth or moral lesson
Symbol- person, place, thing, or
event that has meaning in itself and
also stands for something more
than itself
Secret Sin…
• Everyone has a
secret of something
he/she has done
that no one else
knows about. Think
about these secrets
and why we have
them, why we keep
them.
What is their effect?
Why do we keep
them a secret?
http://www.redbubble.com/people/jelarson/works/4497526-the-ministers-black-veil?p=greeting-card
Secret Sin Activity
Write down something secret that you
know of that either yourself or someone
else has done but has been kept a secret.
DO NOT mention who this might be; this
is meant to be a creative lead-in to the
story we are reading, not a chance for
you to get upset with each other.
Read “The Minister’s Black Veil”
•Pages 299-307
• As you are reading, complete the reading worksheet that
accompanies this reading. These are basic comprehension
questions that you only need read the story to answer; they
don’t ask you to infer or guess anything.
http://apearldefined.wordpress.com/tag/the-ministers-black-veil/
Discuss
 What is one symbol in “The Minister’s Black Veil”?
 What does it represent?
 Do you agree/disagree that everyone
has a secret sin?
 What do you and Mr. Hooper
have in common?
http://that-lurid-glow.wikispaces.com/Hawthorne,+The+Minister's+Black+Veil+++Period+E
Story Questions: Assessment
•Complete
questions
3, 6, 7, 8, and 9
on page 308.
Turn in one sheet
for both people.
http://blackveil.smackjeeves.com/comics/1171522/page-17/
Story Questions: Assessment
•Do the reading
check on page
308.
•Also complete
questions
3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.
http://blackveil.smackjeeves.com/comics/1171522/page-17/
Partner Questions
• Working with a
partner, do the
reading check on
page 308.
• Also complete
questions 3, 5, 6, 7, 8,
and 9.
http://blackveil.smackjeeves.com/comics/1171522/page-17/
• Turn in one sheet for
both people.
Writing Activity
 Because of Mr. Hooper’s constant wearing of the veil, people are
feeling guilty and beginning to confess their “secret sins” to one
another.
 Working independently, write a confession in which you pretend
you are 1) Mr. Hooper himself or 2) a parishioner in Mr. Hooper’s
church. Write a confession of a “secret sin” that you will read
before the congregation of the church (i.e. your classmates). This
is made up—be appropriate.
 This should be at least one solid paragraph of 6+ sentences.
Explain what your sin is, why you did it, and how you are going
to change so you are sure to not do it again.
Writing Activity
• Pretend you are Father Hooper. You
are writing to Elizabeth “from the
grave” and telling her why you wore
the black veil. You know she is dying to
know… So you tell her about your
secret sin.
What did you do that was so awful??
Vocabulary
• Sagacious- wise; practical
• Obscurity- uncertainty; dimness
• Pensive- thoughtful
• Plausible- reasonable
• Resolute- firm; stubborn
• Conspicuous- obvious
• Disposition- attitude
• Peevish- irritable; crabby