Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Critical Pedagogy, Ambiguity, and the Space to Create: Giving Voice to Students
Author | : Sandra L. Charlson |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 81 |
Release | : 2016 |
Genre | : Critical pedagogy |
ISBN | : |
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Numerous voices in today’s educational arena have called for a shift away from fiction to nonfiction, away from romanticism to realism, and away from the works of dead white men to a more inclusive array of authors. This study of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (1850) seeks to prove the continued relevance of this classic to today’s generation of students in modern, student-centered classrooms focused on critical thinking and the inclusion of all voices. Looking through the lens of Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy to explore the intersection of dialogue, voice, audience, and space wherein teacher, student, and text may meet to become co-creators of knowledge, this study will analyze the narrative ambiguities of The Scarlet Letter through which Hawthorne opens up just such creative spaces in which the audience may join in dialogue with the author to create meaning, to search for truth, to unveil reality. Next, this study will explore three literary/rhetorical theories, namely, feminist, trickster, and spatial theory, each intent on opening up the conversation to diverse groups, as does Hawthorne's ambiguity in The Scarlet Letter. As Hawthorne places himself and his “neutral territory, somewhere between the real world and fairy-land” squarely into the Introduction of The Scarlet Letter, “The Custom House,” this study will identify issues Hawthorne struggled with in his own day, including slavery, women’s rights, and transcendentalist utopian ideals that reveal his own divided nature. This study explores how those spaces allow modern writers and critics as well as teachers and students the voice to confront and explore issues of today. This thesis, finally then, is a guide whereby teachers may be encouraged to include Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter in their classrooms wherein all members have a voice.