My wife has to teach a high school English class next fall called “The devil in New England”. Any ideas about stories, poems, etc that she could use?
The class wasn’t her idea, and she is kind of stuck.
“The Devil and Daniel Webster” by Benet, of course–which is based on another story by Washington Irving. I’m sure Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote something that won’t be too tough to research, and as Stephen King is from Maine, there’s got to be something there.
H.P. Lovecraft might give you a little tidbit here and there.
Young Goodman Brown comes to mind.
And of course there’s lots related to the Salem Witch trials, notably The Crucible.
For what it’s worth, MIRACLE MONDAY was a novel – not a graphic novel, an honest-to-god novel – that featured Lex Luthor making a deal with the devil after creating a gateway to the netherworld in New England.
(Well, kinda. In fact, Luthor’s latest spectacular prison break – journeying through hell before rematerializing in New England – already created a path for the denizens of hell to likewise enter the world in New England, whereupon demonic havoc ensues; that’s why it’s Superman who spends a good chunk of the novel eerily using his powers to pose as the devil in hopes of conning Luthor, who eventually makes said deal by helpfully offering up the exact location of said demonpass.)
Perhaps some selections from Cotton Mather’s Wonders of the Invisible World and the response by Robert Calef, More Wonders of the Invisible World.
Not particularly classical but Needful things and some of Stephen King’s books work.
Go for some historical, religious background- Jonathan Edwards’ 1741 ‘Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God’. I got it as part of an American Lit course at University.
Assuming that “devil” can be taken more generally, Washington Irving with either “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” or “Rip Van Winkle” (Henry Hudson and crew as “devil.”)
I’ll echo Colibri, the course would be incomplete without Arthur Miller’s The Crucible
Mark Twain’s The Mysterious Stranger isn’t set in New England, but it was written when Twain lived in Hartford. (Be careful, my recollection is that there are a couple of different versions, you want to use the very bitter one, not the one with Tom and Huck.)
What I was gonna say.
You’d also have to assume that “New England” can be taken more generally, as both are set in New York State. The first thing that comes to mind is the Stephen Vincent Benet short story, and then the Jonathan Edwards sermon, both of which of course have been mentioned.
But I have ask; the school put this course on the calendar and assigned a teacher to it without in advance having a course outline? Is that normally the way things are done?
Here’s a list of literature associated with the Salem witch trials. I’m sure one of the pieces could be worked in.
There is great story by I believe Ray Bradbury about a man who stumbles upon the Devil in an isolated glen in New England that has a nice twist to it. I’ll see if I can dig up the title.
I recommend your wife ask inter-library loan to get her the following books:
Passing Strange by Joseph Citro
Weird New England by Joseph Citro & Mark Sceurman
Midnight in New England by Scott Thomas
The first two books give a general overview of “historical” events in New England, and several include sightings of the devil (I consider them both great resources for writing horror/supernatural stories set here). The latter is a collection of short stories, several of which feature the devil and other demons.
And please don’t let her include any stories set in New York. New York isn’t part of New England and never has been.
I believe that Citro has been a guest speaker at the school before. She should contact him. Helps that we are in Vermont!
The Crucible is obvious; she did a field trip to Salem last year and is doing it again next year.
Seriously, do any teachers really have students read Steven King?
“But I have ask; the school put this course on the calendar and assigned a teacher to it without in advance having a course outline? Is that normally the way things are done?”
Yup. Another teacher proposed the course and did some research, but it was assigned to her for some reason. It makes no sense.
Horns by Joe Hill. Although maybe not for a high school class.
Jonathan Moulton and the Devil by Samuel Adams Drake.
Sure. One of the things you learn in college as you study for your education degree is how to write a curriculum because you’ll probably have to write your own for all the classes you teach. My English Teaching Seminar final was a class curriculum, as was the final for my Moral Perspectives in Education course. As someone who actually teaches (I work in the education field, but not as a someone who teaches students), I’m sure Mrs. Pabstist has written her share for real classes already.
Yes, but shouldn’t the curriculum be prepared and approved before the class is scheduled?
No.
Also, of course Stephen King is taught in college courses.
How do you envision that working? Instead of doing it during the summer, the teacher assigned the class manages to make time for mapping out an entire year’s curriculum in their freetime while s/he is still teaching students, correcting homework, and creating tests? All while not knowing if the class will be approved too, since they’re doing all this before approval?
You could argue that the schools wait until the summer to approve classes, but still you have people spending time on curriculums for classes that may well be rejected. And if you push approval off to the summer, what happens if no one comes up with decent ideas for classes? Last minute scrambling is something most schools like to avoid.
But, we’ve digressed. In apology, I’ve come up with more books.
Haunted Massachusetts by Cheri Revai
Spooky New England by S.E. Schlosser
I don’t like them as well as the other books I recommended, but they’re probably worth checking out.
A book I haven’t read yet, but that is getting a lot of good press is The New England Grimpendium: A Guide to Macabre and Ghastly Sites by J.W. Ocker. This is one of the articles about it.