7th Grade HS Week 16: The American Renaissance and Indian Removal

• Math: Solving Equations (Lessons 4-5+ Review)
• Writing: Great Writing Book 3 (Unit 4 pg 92-97)
• Science: Chapter 9, Lesson 2  The Musculoskeletal System and Levers (Quizlet)

Videos: CC AP #20, Ted-Ed,

• Geography: Oceania

Learning Question: How does Taiwan star in Oceanic migration?

(Videos: Evolution of Pacific Island Cultures, Polynesian Migration)

• History: A Young Person’s History Chapter 7,

“As Long as the Grass Grows and the Water Runs” (handout + Quizlet)   
The Trail of Tears: Crash Course #14,

• Spanish: Lesson 2, Articles and Nouns pg.10-14

• Reading

Literature of the American Renaissance

(1830s- American Civil War)

1. Who were the Brahmins? 
2. Who were the Transcendentalists and what did they believe?
3. Who were the other “imaginative writers”?

Reading 1: Tears by Walt Whitman

Reading 2: The Minister’s Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Vocabulary:Quizlet (before reading) /Quizlet (after reading)/

Extra: Vocabulary builder (pdf)

Hawthorne gained the reputation of being the contradiction to the new
Transcendentalist movement taking hold at the time, with his works
often examining the darker side of humanity. This actually kept him
from forming a deeper friendship with his pals, Henry David Thoreau and
Ralph Waldo Emerson. While Transcendentalism focused on the possibilities
of mankind’s potential, Hawthorne’s characters routinely examined the very
real limitations and potential destructiveness of the human spirit.
In particular, “The Minister’s Black Veil” explores the themes of sin, guilt,
secrecy, and isolation, aspects of the human condition that Transcendentalism
tends to ignore or forget.

Review: Puritan New World

Hawthorne held quite a bit of guilt over his family lineage, which included the
infamous Judge John Hathorne, who presided over the Salem Witch Trials.
Here are some of the tenets of Puritanism which Hawthorne’s ancestors believed
guided their lives:

1. God is the sovereign being of the universe, and controls all things.
2. Certain people had already been chosen by God to go to Heaven, known as "predestination", and there was nothing they could do to change His choice.
3. The only way for a Predestined to get into Heaven was to combine their good fortune with hard work.
4. Humanity is born naturally depraved because of Original Sin, and it is people’s duty to work hard to overcome their innate sin
5. Anything unnatural (famine, disease, deformities, etc.) are attributed to the Devil or witches, who are agents of the Devil.

Original Sin

Puritans (and modern Christian) believe that no one is born perfect, and that
everyone sins. This concept is essential to understanding the allegory of the veil
in this Nathaniel Hawthorne short story, "The Minister’s Black Veil".

Essential Questions for “The Minister’s Black Veil”

1. What is sin?
2. What are secrets people hide from the world?
3. What are some reasons why people keep secrets?
4. Why do people gossip about others?
5. How can guilt separate a person from others?

Explain the Plot of The Minister’s Black Veil:
Exposition, Conflict, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution.

Explain the symbolism of: the black veil, moring funeral, afternoon wedding

Extra: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson,

RESOURCES:

https://www.storyboardthat.com/lesson-plans/the-ministers-black-veil-by-nathaniel-hawthorne

https://www.elacommoncorelessonplans.com/literature-reading-standards/exemplars-g-9-10/poetry-teacher-guides-lesson-plans/teaching-the-poems-of-walt-whitman.html