Hawthorne, Nathaniel: 1804-1864

Information about Nathaniel Hawthorne

General Information | Facts | Articles | Teaching

General Information
- Information from Wikipedia
- Information from Biography
Facts
- Biography
- Brief biography read by Carla Schwartz. Can be used as listening comprehension exercise.
  - Transcript
    Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts on July 4, 1804. His father, Nathaniel Hathorne, was a sea captain and descendent of John Hathorne, one of the judges in the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692. He died when the young Nathaniel was four years old. From Salem the family moved to Maine.
    Between the years 1825 and 1836, Hawthorne worked as a writer and contributor to periodicals..
    
    In 1842 Hawthorne married Sophia Peabody. They settled first in Concord, but a growing family and mounting debts compelled their return to Salem. Hawthorne was unable to earn a living as a writer and in 1846 he was appointed surveyor of the Port of Salem..
    
    His novel "The Scarlet Letter" was a critical and popular success. He was one of the first American writers to explore the hidden motivations of his characters.
    In 1853 he was appointed consul in Liverpool, England. He lived there for four years, and then spent a year and a half in Italy.
    
    Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, in Plymouth, N.H. on a trip to the mountains.
- Chronological Bibliography
Articles
- Audio (1:14)
  Together Again, at Last. Nathanial and Sophie Hawthorne were said to have been inseparable in life, but in death, were buried on two separate continents. This week it was announced that Sophie Hawthorne's remains would join those of her husband in Concord, Massachusetts. NPR Radio; June 3, 2006
  Transcript
- Audio (5:36)
  Hawthorne, Family Reunited in Grave.The remains of the wife and daughter of 19th-century author Nathaniel Hawthorne have been removed from their graves in England and re-interred alongside his grave in Concord, Mass. NPR Radio; June 27, 2006
  Transcript
- Audio (7:21)
  Nathaniel Hawthorne, the father: Host Bob Edwards talks to novelist Paul Auster, who wrote the introduction to "Twenty Days with Julian and Little Bunny By Papa" by Nathaniel Hawthorne (In July of 1851, Nathaniel Hawthorne's wife and daughters took a trip to visit relatives. How Hawthorne and his five-year-old son Julian managed in their absence is the subject of this tender and funny excerpt from Hawthorne's notebooks.). NPR Radio; July 28, 2003
- Return to Puritanism; lecture by Barry Wood. University of Houston, 2010
Teaching
- Hawthorne: Author and Narrator: "The first-person narrator is usually distinct from the author. Understanding the differences, subtle or pronounced, between an author and the narrator he or she creates is essential to understanding a work of fiction." EDSITEment
- Nathaniel Hawthorne and Literary Humor: "In this lesson, students read a humorous story by Nathaniel Hawthorne and compare it to other American literary humorists." EDSITEment