1. ASManager2_6.zip Driver
2. C_HAWTH.txt File Contents

C_HAWTH.txt Driver File Contents (ASManager2_6.zip)

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Hawthorne

You know from mystery stories that the author sometimes sets a scene and atmosphere to arouse your suspicion -- all may not be what it seems! A description of a calm scene might be laced with some underlying mystery. The author wants you to ask: What is really going on here? What is going to happen?

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a nineteenth century American writer who laced his stories with mystery. He wrote a short story called "Rappaccini's Daughter" in 1844. Let's look at some passages from the opening of the story. The situation is this: an innocent young man, looking for lodging, has stumbled upon a strange place.

This is writing from more than a hundred years ago. You'll see that the sentences are long and rather fancy -- the way dresses were in those days.

A young man, named Giovanni Guasconti, came, very long ago, from the more southern region of Italy, to pursue his studies at the University of Padua. Giovanni, who had but a scanty supply of gold ducats in his pocket, took lodgings in a high and gloomy chamber of an old edifice which looked not unworthy to have been the palace of a Paduan noble, and which, in fact, exhibited over its entrance the armorial bearings of a family long since extinct.

Let's look at all the information put into just the first sentence.

A young man, named Giovanni Guasconti, came, very long ago, from the more southern region of Italy, to pursue his studies at the University of Padua.

If we put those ideas into separate, skinny sentences, the list might look like this:

Giovanni Guasconti was a young man.
Long ago he came to Padua (a city in Italy).
He came from a southern region of Italy.
He wanted to study at the university.

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Maybe you're already thinking of ways you could combine these sentences. Remember how you combined the skinny sentences about the hunter and the deer in the earlier activity? Scroll back and do the same with these skinny sentences. Combine them in any way you wish to make one new sentence. 

Hint: Add connecting words and punctuation, delete unnecessary words, and close up spaces.


Name and save this file now. (Press ctrl+S, type a name for the file, and press enter.)

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Here's the way another writer combined those sentences to write the opening passage.

Giovanni Guasconti was a young man who, long ago, came to Padua from a southern region of Italy to study at the University of Padua.

And again, let's look at Hawthorne's version.

A young man, named Giovanni Guasconti, came, very long ago, from the more southern region of Italy, to pursue his studies at the University of Padua.

Compare all three versions with your writing partners and talk about the differences. As you can see, there are various ways to express the same idea!

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Maybe you noticed how l-o-n-g the second sentence of the original passage is.

Giovanni, who had but a scanty supply of gold ducats in his pocket, took lodgings in a high and gloomy chamber of an old edifice, which looked not unworthy to have been the palace of a Paduan noble, and which, in fact, exhibited over its entrance the armorial bearings of a family long since extinct.

Look at all the ideas contained in that sentence: (Some words are explained to you in parentheses.)

Giovanni had a scanty supply of gold ducats (coins).
They were in his pocket.
He took lodgings in a chamber.
It was high up.
It was gloomy.
It was in an old edifice (building).
The edifice was worthy of belonging to a nobleman.
It showed something over its entrance.
It was a coat of arms.
The coat of arms belonged to an old family.
That family was extinct long ago.

Wow! Could all that be in one sentence? Today maybe we'd call that sentence "overstuffed." But in Hawthorne's day, such long sentences were common in literature.

Below is another copy of the skinny sentences before they were combined. Try combining them any way you'd like to make two sentences.

Hint: Add connecting words and punctuation; delete unnecessary words, and close up spaces.

Sentences to Combine

Giovanni had a scanty supply of gold ducats (coins).
They were in his pocket.
He took lodgings in a chamber.
It was high up.
It was gloomy.
It was in an old edifice (building).
The edifice was worthy of belonging to a nobleman.
It showed something over its entrance.
It was a coat of arms.
The coat of arms belonged to an old family.
That family was extinct long ago.


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Now let's look at the original again. The connecting words Hawthorne used are in capitals. (Scroll back and compare your version to see the differences.)

Giovanni, WHO had but a scanty supply of gold ducats in his pocket, took lodgings in a high and gloomy chamber of an old edifice, WHICH looked not unworthy to have been the palace of a Paduan noble, AND WHICH, in fact, exhibited over its entrance the armorial bearings of a family long since extinct.

Type a list of the connecting words Hawthorne used:

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Watch for who, that, and which in your writing, too. You probably use them more often than you think! 


If you haven't done so already, name and save this file now. (Press ctrl+S, type a name for the file, and press enter.)

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end of activity
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