Explore Activities from the Literature Section

Activities Relating to the Custom-House Sketch

Illustration of the Custom House from early edition of The Scarlet Letter (courtesy of James R. Osgood and Co.)

A student interested in history or architecture might wish to look at the information on merchants of the eighteenth century in Salem, the images of the houseswhere Elias Haskett Derby lived, and the image of Derby Wharf shortly after Hawthorne's time. Then the student might use those sources along with the description Hawthorne gives of Salem at the beginning of the "Custom House" chapter to write an essay discussing how maritime Salem of Hawthorne's time, in the mid-nineteenth century, differs from the Salem of the Golden Age of the late 1700s.

Activities Related to Faith and Religion

Plate II, Adam and Eve, Derby Family Bible, Universal Bible, 1759 ed. (courtesy of Salem Maritime National Historic Site)

1. Students interested in Hawthorne's religious views might consider the fragments from Related Literaturealong with Margaret Moore's excerpts under Critical Commentary. Based upon that information, draw some conclusions about why Hawthorne avoided any doctrinaire religious allegiance. Moore speaks of Hawthorne's "instinct of faith." Margaret Moore powerfully suggests that while Hawthorne avoided any specific religious affiliation, his prose and his thinking were permeated with religious ideas.] After your reading, what do you take her to mean by that phrase? To rephrase, what is Hawthorne's "instinct of faith"? What role might Hawthorne's family history and the environment of Salem have had in determining his religious views?

2. Take some time to look carefully at the images associated with Hawthorne's Framework of Faith and those images associated with Hawthorne's Ideas of Good and Evil. Imagine you are a young person who is highly educated, deeply sensitive, and steeped in the history of your town and of your family's place in that history. What might the effect be on such a person to live surrounded by the images you see? Write a journal entry or a short autobiographical sketch as if you were Nathaniel Hawthorne or someone like him.

Other Website pages which might assist with this activity are:

• Hawthorne and Ideas of Good and Evil: Related Literature
• Hawthorne and Ideas of Good and Evil: Critical Commentary
• Hawthorne and Ideas of Good and Evil: Original Documents

3. Contemplate for a few moments some of the images connected with A Framework of Faith, especially on the one hand those photographs of Salem gravestones, those portraits of the Puritan fathers and the painting of the witch trial and on the other, the images taken from "The Snow Image" and the image of the virgins from an illustration of The Scarlet Letter. The contrast is striking. Then consider the differences between Hawthorne's descriptions of what is faulty about Anne Hutchinson, Hester Prynne, the father in "The Snow Image," and the Quaker mother in "The Gentle Boy" . What conclusions can you draw about the variety of spiritual threads in Hawthorne's world and his response to them?

4. When Nathaniel Hawthorne and his wife, Sophia, moved to Concord, Massachusetts, they rented The Old Manse from Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau helped the Hawthorne's plant a garden. In addition, the Alcott's also lived in the neighborhood and became acquainted with the Nathaniel and Sophia. Partly because of these circumstances, Nathaniel Hawthorne is sometimes counted among the American Transcendentalists. Explore some transcendental thinking and then examine the materials gathered under A Framework of Faithand decide for yourself if Hawthorne should be placed in that camp.

5. A Research Topic and Preliminary Writing Question on Ideas of Good and Evil

The following makes for a rich topic of investigation as a research project: Ideas of Good and Evil in Works by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville. (Alternatively, the topic can be adapted to one of the two, rather than both authors.) If students can begin to explore this topic by reflecting upon works they already know by Hawthorne and Melville, then they have a solid head start. Two Hawthorne in Salem website articles that are also helpful in this context are “Christian Imagery in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter” in the Scholars’ Forum section of “Faith and Religion”/“Ideas of Good and Evil” and “Echoes of Hawthorne in Melville’s Billy Budd” in the Scholars’ Forum section of “Hawthorne and Melville”/”Literary Links.”

As a preliminary to research, students familiar with The Scarlet Letter and Billy Budd can write detailed paragraphs or brainstorming lists in response to the following question: What are some examples of ways that Hawthorne and Melville identify what they consider to be good, right, or virtuous and bad, wrong, or virtueless in their novels The Scarlet Letter and Billy Budd? The following paragraphs provide some responses to consider for this wide-ranging question:

Hawthorne begins the narrative portion of The Scarlet Letter by calling the dissenter Anne Hutchinson “saintly” and by ascribing a merciful tenderness to a wild rosebush that, according to legend, had grown in her footsteps. From this early point in the novel, therefore, and especially as it reinforces “The Custom House” introduction, the reader can see that Hawthorne values freedoms of speech and worship and those courageous enough to champion them in the face of intolerant regimes like those of the Massachusetts Puritans. The use of the rosebush, moreover, infuses Hawthorne’s prose with a typically Romantic reverence for nature. The evident implication is that “speculating” about religious questions, as Anne Hutchinson had and as Hester Prynne does, is natural and good; but exiling and silencing them is against nature and thoroughly wrong.

Other attributes admired by Hawthorne are Hester’s service to her community, her charitable actions, and her longsuffering attitude in atoning for her sin. Clearly he values unselfishness, kindness toward those in need, humility, and bravery.

Much of what Hawthorne admires can also be shown indirectly by identifying those things he faults. Among the admired are the following:

• tolerance
• compassion
• romantic love
• loyalty
• industriousness
• forgiveness
• individualism
• flexibility
• acceptance of mystery and limits of human knowledge

All of these are to some extent violated in Hester’s world in The Scarlet Letter.

In “The Custom House,” Hawthorne shows shame for his family’s roles in the Puritan persecutions of Quakers and alleged witches. To the novel’s character, also a historical figure executed as a witch, Mistress Hibbins, he ascribes mental illness, thus suggesting that Puritans intentionally exterminated the infirm, as would nazis in the century succeeding Hawthorne’s. Certainly, intolerance and cruelty qualify as forms of evil in The Scarlet Letter.

The marketplace women who shout for Hester Prynne’s death exhibit a heartlessness that Hawthorne also condemns. It is clear that those women lust for the blood sport of a public execution much more than they care about any fellow female’s sins of the flesh. Scapegoating, therefore, is also an evil that the novel dramatizes; and in fact any example of objectifying human beings in order to treat them as subhuman for any purpose is clearly frowned upon by the author. Roger’s mind games with Arthur and the Boston brats’ harassment of Pearl are further examples.

The heart and the heartless are indeed key components of the novel. The chapter entitled “The Interior of a Heart,” for example, goes far to redeem Arthur Dimmesdale from his contemptible hypocrisy by showing the reader the weight of guilt the minister carries within; and, when it is clear that his and Hester’s passion derives from a love far deeper than could ever have existed between Hester and Roger, Arthur is all the more forgivable and pitiable, especially in contrast with tormenting, heartless Roger. With his hand frequently over his heart, it is fair to say that Arthur is worn down by acute heartache until a final burst of defiance leaves him stricken as if from heart failure. Loving his faith and the career he has built on it, he is torn mercilessly by the even stronger but forbidden passion he possesses for Hester Prynne.

As Hawthorne’s fiction exhibits exaltation of strong women, Melville’s possesses glorification of a group of free-spirited men -- sailors. He finds them generally far preferable to the kind of people who tend to be corrupted by too much time on land – those wicked landlubbers! He shares the widespread admiration for the fine physical specimens he terms “Handsome Sailors,” but such men are more than just comely. They are also skilled and graceful in their professions, and their good nature makes them approachable and well-liked by many. They do not seem to have axes to grind, nor do they resemble goon squad leaders who rise to prominence by means of belittling others. They are open and refreshing, more than just regular guys, in fact -- endearing ones. All of these attributes certainly belong to one Handsome Sailor –- the title character in Billy Budd.

Billy is not without defect – but then who is? Unfortunately, he is beyond ignorant – completely illiterate and painfully naïve. Melville is certainly not championing these qualities; his leading figure in Moby-Dick, for example, is the very bright, articulate, and observant Ishmael, certainly as sympathetic a character as Billy but definitely no dummy! It is Billy’s inability to articulate anything at all in moments of stress that ultimately serves as his tragic flaw and brings about his downfall.

Beyond defects and weaknesses, however, Billy Budd points to qualities and behaviors that the author clearly abhors and views as evil. Claggart provides examples of most of these: his gross misuse of authority to settle imagined scores rather than serve the good of the whole ship; his disregard for truth as he encourages his henchmen to frame Billy and tell their boss what they think he wants to hear without the interference of accuracy; and his malicious, wanton hatred of the fine and good qualities in the young man he secretly admires but perversely seeks to destroy. Thus Melville seems to say that those who abuse, lie, kill, and destroy are those who serve the devil.

Then there is Captain Vere – the really complicating factor in the story. On the surface, he is an affable, if remote fellow; but clearly Melville finds him to be the last person who should ever have been entrusted with naval leadership in wartime. The bad in Vere is essentially a rigidity of vision, whether from a fundamental meanness or stupidity Melville never says, but certainly Vere does not and evidently could not rise to levels of grace in the face of adversity. Instead, he resorts to what he understands as the letter of the law, even though he knows he employs it in the service of lies and against virtue. Billy may ask God to bless Captain Vere, but Melville makes clear that he, most of the rest of the crew, and probably the novel’s readers as well have other, much less favorable wishes in mind for the severely limited captain.

Following such preliminary writing on the topic of good and evil in Hawthorne’s and Melville’s works, students should be ready to formulate thesis statements. Based on the preceding paragraphs, for example, a thesis could be worded as follows: Hawthorne and Melville share Romantic views of good and evil in their fiction. Both men’s interest in nature and ways that civilization corrupts the natural could help develop such a theme. Whatever direction the student might take, however, s/he clearly benefits from background reading and writing thoughts about it in advance of documenting research ideas with specific citations from sources.

Learning Activities Related to Native Americans

Chief Big Thunder (Frank Loring) (courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA)

1. This activity was created by Dr. Doug Rowlett from Houston Community College System, Southwest Campus, Stafford, TX.   In nineteenth-century Salem the frontier was a distant place only to be read about by most inhabitants, and interactions with living Native Americans were few and far removed. The occasional Native American visitor to Salem had become by Hawthorne's time a quaint relic, more curiosity than threat in most people's minds.

However, residents did read about them in the newspapers and in popular books and articles and were certainly aware of their place in the history of New England, and there were still a few people alive during Hawthorne's early years who could recount old tales from previous generations about "Indian depredations." While Hawthorne never wrote the kinds of Indian-centered tales that Fenimore Cooper did, a close examination of his stories and novels will show he did make more use of Native Americans than is at first apparent.

• Margaret B. Moore's book The Salem World of Nathaniel Hawthorne provides useful information about Hawthorne's treatment of Native Americans. Read the synopsis cited above and then examine The Scarlet Letter for examples of Hawthorne's treatment of Native Americans in the novel . Note that the forest and its natural inhabitants are portrayed at times as dark, mysterious, and surely allied with the forces of darkness and iniquity and at other times as noble, enduring, natural, and even innocent. Consider how Hawthorne's attitude toward Indians in The Scarlet Letter may have informed his thematic treatment of the duality presented by God's Law on the one hand (civilized, restrained, white, and Christian) and Nature's Law on the other (savage, passionate, dark, and pagan). 
   
• Review Ellen Knight's article on the Squaw Satchem , the excerpt of John Winthrop's Journal for June 1630 , and review some of the original documents from the early Colonial period . What can you glean from these documents about the attitudes of early colonists toward the Native Americans they encountered? Now read Johnson's critical commentary on The Scarlet Letter and the excerpt from Colacurcio's The Province of Piety. Does Hawthorne's attitude toward Native Americans in The Scarlet Letter seem to agree with or to be at odds with the early colonists' perceptions of them? Is he mainly sympathetic or antipathetic toward them? 

  Illustration by Frank T. Merrill of Shem Drowne’s Indian warrior weathervane that stood on top of the Province House in Boston (courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA)

• Jarold Ramsey in Redefining American Literary History explores ". . . why, after four centuries of contact, America's first traditional literatures have had so little influence on our literary heritage." While his article deals mainly with Thoreau, explore the Hawthorne In Salem Web Site to find materials pertaining to Hawthorne to either support or refute his thesis that ". . . literary imaging of native life, of which there has been so much, must not be confused with literary assimilation of native imaginative traditions, of which there has been too little." 
   
• Read Hawthorne's "The Seven Vagabonds" and consider his thematic treatment of "vagabondage," in particular the repulsion and attraction he feels with regard to the tension between duty versus freedom. Hawthorne said at age 33 that "Our Indian races having reared no monuments, like the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians, when they have disappeared from the earth their history will appear a fable, and they misty phantoms." . In other communications to his contemporaries, he discusses or alludes to his attitudes toward duty and freedom . Can his ambiguous attitude toward duty versus freedom be found in other short stories and novels (particularly The Scarlet Letter)? What does his attitude say to you about the place of the artist in the world and the conflict between his duties and responsibilities and the role of creativity and spontaneity in his life? Finally, explain the last sentence of "The Seven Vagabonds": "Finally, with a pensive shadow thrown across my mind, yet emulous of the light philosophy of my late companions, I joined myself to the Penobscot Indian, and set forth towards the distant city."

2. Explore Activities Related to “Main-Street”

A.) Images of American Indians

Make some observations on the portrayal of American Indians and the Indian-White relationship in these 19th century illustrations and art works. Categorize the ways Indians are presented during this period. As you view the images, it's important to remember that they present Indians through Euro-American imagination and ideology. Consider the following questions while analyzing individual illustrations or art works: What is emphasized in the work? What ideas and values are evident? What emotions does the work appeal to or communicate?

• The Death of Jane McCrea, by John Vanderlyn
• Massacre of Settlers by the Indians
• Encounter With Indians
• Rescue Group, by Horatio Greenough
• The War Dance, By The Ojibeway Indians, by George Catlin
• A Sioux War Party, by George Catlin
• Waapashaw, Sioux, by McKenney & Hall
• Ash-E-Taa-Na-Quet, A Celebrated Chipppeway Chief, by James Otto Lewis
• Wanata, Sioux Indian Chief, by McKenney & Hall
• The White Cloud, Head Chief of the Iowas, by George Catlin
• Buffalo Bull's Back Fat--Head Chief, Blood Tribe, by George Catlin
• Chief of the Blood Indians, War Chief of the Piekann Indians, Koutani Indian, by Karl Bodmer
• The Trapper's Bride, by Alfred Jacob Miller
• Indian Girl, by Hiram Powers
• The Indian Beauty, by Currier and Ives
• The Last of the Wampanoags, by G. I. Brown
• American Progress, by John Gast
• Indian Chief Contemplating the Progress of Civilization, by Thomas G. Crawford [MMD 2415]

B.) The following websites provide additional American art images and articles on American art history.

• American Art History-Selected Images (Choate American Studies Program): See "The Captivity Myth" and "Native Americans in Early American Art."
• Smithsonian American Art Museum
• American Art History Resources & Distinguished Artists Series

C.) Artwork by American Indians of the Northeast

In the oral cultures of American Indians, artwork serves as a visual language that expresses the lives and worldviews of the people. Through signs and symbols, function and form each work speaks or tells a story rich in history and belief. Study the following images and observe on the form and design of each; consider the materials, as well. Describe what you find aesthetically pleasing or interesting. Explain how the object provides insight into the lifeways and culture, the beliefs and values of the creator. Make note of symbols or decorative motifs that you see as important or puzzling. In the 19th century, Euro-American ideas of "art" defined American Indian creations as "craft"-expressions of the primitive or naïve-not as sophisticated as the "high" art of the Western world. Do you agree? Collectively, how might these works, tell a different story, and offer an alternative view to the "official" white explanations of Indians and early American history?

• Black Stone Bear. Igneous Rock. Pawtucket
• Deerskin Pouch with Fur, Porcupine Quills, and Metal Chimes. Pawtucket
• Chief's Collar, Penobscot
• Hunting Coat, Delaware or Shawnee
• Moccasins with Blue and Red, Iroquois
• Box, Montagnais
• Oval Box, Micmac
• Cradleboard, Ojibwa
• Tray, Huron
• Ball Head Club, Iroquois
• Powder Horn, Penobscot
• Burden Strap, Iroquois
• Two-Tone Porcupine Weave Basket, Barbara D. Francis, Penobscot
• An 18-Foot Reproduction Birch Bark Canoe
• Old Style Penobscot Indian Birch Bark Canoe

D.) The following websites and links provide additional images of American Indian art and articles on American Indian traditions and artistic expression.

• From "Reading the Signs" by David W. Penney
• Native American Art (MSN Encarta Encyclopedia Article)
• Native American Art: Overview (Saddleback College Seminar)
• Native American Indian Art
• The Indians of the Northeast (Culture Area)

  3. Explore Activities Related to “The Duston Family” 

Learning Activities Related to Hawthorne and Women

Illustration by George Henry Boughton in 1881 for The Scarlet Letter (courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA)

1. In Hawthorne's fiction he frequently uses older female characters to examine connections to the past and the relationship between the past and present. Both Hepzibah Pyncheon from The House of the Seven Gables  and Old Esther Dudley from "Old Esther Dudley" are characters who reflect this approach by Hawthorne. To explore this theme more fully, you may consider the following:

a. Look at the excerpts about and images related to Hepzibah Pyncheon and Esther Dudley listed below and consider the questions that follow:

• excerpts about Hepzibah
• excerpt from The House of the Seven Gables that describes the mirror that hangs in the house
• portrait of Abigail Gerrish by John Greenwood c. 1750 which resembles Hepzibah Pyncheon
• artist’s rendition of Hepzibah’s shop from book entitled Literary Houses
• excerpts about Esther Dudley
• mirror resembling the one which Esther Dudley looks into
• illustration from "Old Esther Dudley" showing Esther being handed the key to the Province House
• illustration from "Old Esther Dudley" that depicts Esther among a group of colonial figures from the past
• illustration from "Old Esther Dudley" that depicts Esther on the king of England's birthday

How do Hawthorne's descriptions of Hepzibah and Esther underscore their connections to the past? What words does he use to describe their appearance, attire, and environments to suggest the close ties they feel to the past? How do the illustrations and images reinforce Hawthorne's ideas?

b. Both Seven Gables and the Province House contain mirrors that seem to reflect the presence of figures from the past. Examine the passages in which Hawthorne describes the mirrors. What appears in each? How does Esther feel about the images she sees? What does the narrative suggest about the images that appear in Seven Gables?

• excerpt from The House of the Seven Gables  that describes the mirror that hangs within the house
• excerpt from "Old Esther Dudley" in which Esther looks into a mirror

c. Hepzibah and Esther share certain qualities, but are also different from each other. What differences do you see? How does each woman feel about the past and its legacy? Is this an important difference?

d. The endings of "Old Esther Dudley" and The House of the Seven Gables  present different outcomes for these two women. Look closely at the excerpts from the endings. How does each work offer a comment on the relationship between past and present? Which outcome do you prefer and why?

• excerpts from the ending of The House of the Seven Gables
• excerpts from the ending of "Old Esther Dudley"

2. As Richard Millington suggests in his critical commentary, the story "Rappaccini's Daughter" would be quite different if written by Margaret Fuller. She might have changed the point of view so that the reader saw things from Beatrice's perspective.

To see what effect this might have, imagine that you are Beatrice. Since you have no one to talk to, you record your thoughts in a diary. Write the diary entries that describe your meeting with Giovanni and the way you feel as you continue to see him. What are your hopes for the future?

Compare what you have written to the story by Hawthorne. Has your view of Beatrice changed? Do you see Giovanni or Beatrice's father differently than you did before? How does point of view influence your perceptions?

3. Imagine yourself a detective in 16th century Padua. You have learned of the death of Beatrice Rappaccini, and heard that a family servant claims she died from unnatural causes. You have been asked to investigate whether a crime has occurred, and if so, to identify the perpetrator. You have three possible suspects to interrogate: Giovanni Guasconti, Giacomo Rappaccini, and Pietro Baglioni. To complete your investigation you must do the following:

4. As many of the images featured in this section suggest, the figures of Beatrice from Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio) and of Beatrice Cenci informed the characterization of Beatrice Rappaccini in Hawthorne's story. Like many other nineteenth-century artists and writers, Hawthorne was attracted to the image of woman as a redemptive figure who transforms another through love (Dante's Beatrice). He was also fascinated by ideas about woman as a mixed being who represented both innocence and danger (Beatrice Cenci). Read material on the two Beatrices from the web sites "Dante's 'love' for Beatrice" and "Screaming in the Castle". How has Hawthorne drawn upon these two figures to shape Beatrice Rappaccini? What important differences exist between Hawthorne's character and her predecessors?

Image of Beatrice Cenci

5. This learning activity was submitted by Donna Reiss, Professor of English at Tidewater Community College, Virginia Beach, VA.

Two of Nathaniel Hawthorne's best-known short stories are excellent companions to a reading of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: "The Birthmark" and "Rappaccini's Daughter." Like Frankenstein, they dramatize the impact of science and technology on human behavior and relationships. Although set in the nineteenth century, these works provoke our thinking about similar issues in the current century and help set the stage for an exploration of these issues throughout the twentieth century. This Explore activity focuses on "Rappaccini's Daughter," but the topics are also relevant for "The Birthmark."

As you read "Rappaccini's Daughter," consider the list of ideas and topics below that are also related to Frankenstein. I recommend that you review the Frankenstein Project Guidelines for suggestions such as the following:

1. Ethics and science (responsibility of scientists)
2. Relationship between creator/inventor and creations/inventions
3. Educational approaches and curricula
4. Relationships among families and friends
5. Impact of obsessions on self and others

· The Literature section of the Hawthorne in Salem Website has several topics that you can relate to your reading of "Rappaccini's Daughter." Even when the sources do not refer specifically to that story, sometimes the authors of the online articles discuss other Hawthorne works in ways that you can recognize as similar to "Rappaccini's Daughter." In particular, the sections titled "Women in Hawthorne" and "Alienation" might be of interest.

· In addition, the Explore section links to some graphical and resources and other commentary that might interest you. Ideas of good and evil, for example, are emphasized in the Faith and Religion section.

6. This learning activity related to "Lady Eleanore's Mantle" was developed by Dr. Melissa Pennell.

  Excerpts are from the story "Lady Eleanor's Mantle" (from Twice Told Tales, Volume 2, 1851)

First, look up the symptoms and history of smallpox:

• Where does it break out?
• What are its effects?
• How does it spread?

Next, apply that to the story, "Lady Eleanore's Mantle":

• In your opinion, after studying about smallpox, does Lady Eleanor appear to have symptoms of the disease?
• How is it affecting the people of the city? Why were the citizens so fearful of this disease?
• How many would have become sick?

Learn about the outbreak of smallpox in 1721 by visiting the following web sites:

• http://www.dotnews.com/peterhistory1.html
• http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/smallpox/sp_threat.html
   
• Who is Cotton Mather and why is he important to the story?
• How were the first inoculations performed? 
   
• Why might Hawthorne have chosen this disease for his story?

Contemporary study

• Were you vaccinated? Find at least 3 people who were (hint: check with your parents). Were they re-vaccinated to travel outside the United States?
• Does smallpox still occur today?
• List several of the current questions surrounding smallpox and outline the current vaccination program.
• How might an author today use smallpox in a story?

Explore Activities Relating to Quakers

John Hathorne, 1717, Charter St. Burying Ground (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno)

1. Students interested in Hawthorne's relationship to Quakers might consider his representation of them in "The Gentle Boy," "Main Street," and The Scarlet Letter and then use the passages from Claudia Durst Johnson and Margaret Moore to better understand how Quaker beliefs differed from Puritan beliefs. A consideration of the following questions might prove productive. Why would Hawthorne have admired the Quakers?   Why would Hawthorne have been critical of the Quakers?   To what extent does his family history shape his response to them?

Learning Activities Related to Literary Links between Hawthorne and Melville

"A Tanglewood Tale," a play about the relationship between Hawthorne and Melville in the Berkshires by Juliane and Stephen Glantz (courtesy of Shakespeare and Company)

1.) Students studying The Blithedale Romance can view these images of fabric pastorals from the Peabody-Essex Museum and respond to the questions that follow: Mid-18th century Pastoral Canvas-work picture by Sarah Ropes of Salem, depicting birds, ladies, and livestock Mid-18th century Pastoral Canvas-work picture by unidentified Salem or Boston artist, depicting lady, gentleman, and flower Pastoral Canvas work picture by Sarah Chamberlain, ca. 1765, depicting lady, dog, and birds 1822 Sampler by Sarah Prescott of Westford (Forge Village), Massachusetts, depicting trees and grapevines and a floral vine border surrounding an acrostic verse for "virtue" 1788 Sampler by Sally Rust of Salem, depicting lady, gentleman, sheep, and landscape 1778 Sampler by Nabby Mason Peele, depicting, in characteristic work of Essex County, Massachusetts, lady, gentleman, sheep, and such phrasing as "Beneath the slaughtered lamb inscribed."

Explore Activities from the Buildings and Houses Section

Activities Relating to the Salem Custom House

Exterior of the Salem Custom House, 2000(photography by Aaron Toleos)

A student who is interested in documentaries might read the section of the Custom-House sketch in which Hawthorne describes the Federal eagle and compare the description to photograph of the eagle. This student could then write an essay discussing the differences between Hawthorne's eagle and the actual eagle sculpture, and speculate on reasons for the differences. For example, a student could consider whether Hawthorne was a poor observer and look for other evidence for this position by comparing other descriptions in the Custom- House sketch with material evidence found on the web site, or could explore the ways Hawthorne alters descriptions to suit his literary needs.