In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter the story takes place in Puritanical America where the young Hester Prynne‚ after committing adultery is punished on the basis of what the town thinks is right. She is simultaneously a part of the town and is also pushed away from it. Hawthorne explores the theme of liminality between society and nature through the motif of setting to convey the isolation that comes with sin. The scaffold (where Hester stands to face her consequences)‚ Hester and Pearl’s
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Part 1 “There was not a moment to lose. He drew the ax out all the way‚ raised it back with both hands‚ hardly aware of what he was doing; and almost without effort‚ almost automatically‚ he brought the blunt side down on her head. He seemed to have no strength. Yet the moment he started bringing the ax down‚ strength sprang up in him” (74). In this excerpt from “Crime and Punishment” the narrator is describing how Raskolnikov killed Alyona Ivanovna. Alyona is an old women who lends money
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In this book all the good stuff goes down in the woods. Nature is almost like a character in the world of The Scarlet Letter. It is often personified as listening‚ commenting on‚ and interacting with other characters. The society itself (Puritan Boston society) is like an island surrounded by nature. The town is bordered on one side by a huge expanse of woods‚ home to Native Americans (the Wampanoag tribes). On the other side lies the big blue Atlantic Ocean. From the beginning of this story‚ our
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Dimmesdale’s Arguments: 1. In chapter 8‚ Dimmesdale‚ Mr. Wilson‚ and Governor Bellingham are visited by Hester and Pearl at the Governor’s mansion. When pearl is asked “who made thee?”‚ she responds that she was not made‚ but rather "plucked . . . off the bush of wild roses that grew by the prison door.". This causes the governor and Mr. Wilson to immediately become horrified and ready to take Pearl from Hester’s custody. As Pearl protests her God given right for Pearls custody‚ she pleads that
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Tajbik Sheikh The Scarlet Letter Intro In the 16th century‚ Puritans immigrated to America from Great Britain in order to escape religious persecution‚ and by the mid 17th century they had erected a well established society based on their theological beliefs. The Puritan religion was one of austerity and geared towards spiritual devotion rather than worldly possessions. Puritans followed rigid laws which rarely changed with time. They also had little tolerance for anyone who broke these laws
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The Scarlet Letter: Glossary Term Assessment Short Entries 1. Personification: When an inanimate object is abstractly given human qualities. Example: "The soul beheld it’s features in the mirror of the passing moment" (173 Top of page) 2. Rhetorical question: A question that is expected not to be answered or it has an obvious one. Example: "Is there not law for it?" (Page 45 top of page) 3. Metaphor: A comparison of objects without using like or as. Example:"... poor little Pearl
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Read the following passage from Nathaniel Hawthorn’s The Scarlet Letter. In a well-organized response‚ analyze how the author’s use of language influences both mood and tone. The scene was not without a mixture of awe‚ such as must always invest the spectacle of guilt and shame in a fellow-creature‚ before society shall have grown corrupt enough to smile‚ instead of shuddering‚ at it. The witnesses of Hester Prynne’s disgrace had not yet passed beyond their simplicity. They were stern enough to
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Kayla Lang 1/21/14 Sin Victimizes the Innocent In the novel The Scarlet Letter‚ Nathaniel Hawthorne explores the idea of sin and how it affected those in the Puritan era. Hester Prynne‚ with her baby in her arms‚ is ridiculed in front of the entire town. Hester and her daughter are shunned to a house on the outskirts of town‚ isolating them from the Puritan community. Pearl and Hester grow up in the town alone as social outcasts‚ but they do have each other. Pearl is raised by her single mother
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The puritan era was a time of strife for many early American settlers. They felt the world was at war between the forces of good and the forces of evil. This contention was made evident in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter as the author combines the physical‚ moral and mental state of Roger Chillingworth to highlight the theme of revenge and the evil obsession that takes over Chillingworth’s soul. Hawthorne’s use of figurative language connects Chillingworth’s misshapen form with
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The Symbolic meaning of the letter “A” In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel‚ The Scarlet Letter‚ the meaning of the letter "A" stands for “adulterer”‚ but the symbolic meaning of the “A” changes throughout the book. This change is significant as it indicates the personal growth of the characters as well as the enlightenment of the townspeople. When the novel begins‚ the letter "A" is a symbol of sin. In the puritan village Hester resides in‚ a person that commits adultery is to be condemned to death
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