Reading Log for The Scarlet Letter
1. Chapter one thoroughly describes the Jailhouse and the surrounding landscape. Tells of the huge wooden edifices whose threshold is timbered and iron barred. Gives the description of the peoples clothing who were congregating outside of the prison. It also describes the necessity of a new colony first building a prison and graveyard. In the last paragraph it tells of a rose bush outside of the oaken doors. The author describes the awkwardness of having such a beautiful plant surrounded by weeds and shrubs.
2. (Page 50) The rose-bush, by a strange chance, has been kept alive in history; but whether it had merely survived out of the stern old wilderness, so long after the fall of the gigantic pines and oaks that originally overshadowed it, --or whether, as there is fair authority for believing, it had sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Anne Hutchinson, --we shall not take upon us to determine. I believe these lines are important because they illustrate some of the mythology of the times in which this book was set. The author also goes on to describe how this rose bush could symbolize two different things depending on the readers perspective; A tale of morals blossoming; or a tale of human frailty and sorrow.
3. I think chapter one should have been more obvious to the setting and time frame in which the story takes place. By text one assumes it is set in a new colony in early American history, however it should give a precise time in my opinion. Hawthorne does an excellent job of helping the reader visualize the story and is able to present a question of opinion in the first chapter, which shows great writing skills.
4. The first chapter reminds me of Where The Red Fern Grows. The rose bush that is mentioned briefly has much to do with the story even though there is little reference to it. In WTRFG the fern is actually not so much part of the story as an idea represented through a physical inanimate object, as I believe the rose bush to be. Later in the novel Pearl says she came from the rose bush by the prison door, that shows her beauty and resilience as a comparison to an object unable to show emotion.
25, 2001 Chapter 2 Pages 51 to 61
1. This chapter gives a little more setting of the town describing the short journey from the jail to the scaffold and town center.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is one of the most respected and admired novels of all time. Often criticized for lacking substance and using more elaborate camera work, freely adapted films usually do not follow the original plot line. Following this cliché, Roland Joffe’s version of The Scarlet Letter received an overwhelmingly negative reception. Unrealistic plots and actions are added to the films for added drama; for example, Hester is about to be killed up on the scaffold, when Algonquin members arrive and rescue her. After close analysis, it becomes evident of the amount of work that is put into each, but one must ask, why has the director adapted their own style of depicting the story? How has the story of Hester Prynne been modified? Regarding works, major differences and similarities between the characterization, visual imagery, symbolism, narration and plot, shows how free adaptation is the correct term used.
The novel “The Scarlet Letter” was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850 and is probably the book for which he is most famous. He was a prolific writer and wrote many short stories, a few collections, and several novels during his writing career. Nathaniel Hawthorne was injured as a child and became an avid reader and decided that he wanted to be a writer. Though he was a lackluster college student, after graduation he returned to his hometown of Salem, Massachusetts and began his writing career in earnest. Not only did Nathaniel Hawthorne have one of his ancestors who had been one of the three judges involved in the Salem witch trials (of which he was not too proud, but it probably helped his career because it was depicted in his writings), but also he had many influential friends to include President Franklin Pierce, Henry David Thoreau (Author), and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Poet), Herman Melville (Author) and he had actually rented the “Old Manse” mentioned in “The Scarlet Letter” from Ralph Waldo Emerson (Essayist). The “Scarlet Letter” is a work of non-fiction, but the preface is loosely based on Hawthorne’s actual life due to the fact that he actually did work at the Customs House in Salem and did lose his job there, which gave
Interest heightens in the second chapter when Hester Prynne, finally introduced and in action, walks out of the jail with an infant clinging to her. Hawthorne depicts Prynne as a force that cannot be reckoned with when one of the guards tries to assist her while w...
Delaney, Bill. “Hawthorne, Nathaniel.” Magill’s Survey of American Literature. Rev. ed. Pasadena: Salem, 2007. Literary Reference Center. Web. 23 Dec. 2010. .
1. How does the opening scene contrast with what happens at the end of the story?
Knowing and understanding the author’s purpose, we see where he is coming from and what his “point of view” is. We see that the author is someone that does not agree with the activities that occur in the native prison. It makes the author feel uncomfortable with the establishment and its procedures.
“Burn the witch!” has been a condemning cry for centuries, but those flames are not always real. Words, looks, and guilt can burn a sinner far more effectively than the pyre ever could, as evidenced by the torments inflicted on the sinners in The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Each of the characters was burned in a different way, just as they represent different types of sin. Hester Prynne, the adulteress, represents open, acknowledged, and public shame. Through her, we recognize that acknowledging sin eventually leads to forgiveness and healing, in contrast with Reverend Dimmesdale, who represents the festering wound of concealed sin. And the depraved man who seems to be sent to torment them both, Roger Chillingworth, represents revenge, and punishment for sin. Hester Prynne, who wears the Scarlet Letter, has her ignominy before the whole world. Her scarlet A reminds both Hester and everyone else that she is an adulteress. Much of The Scarlet Letter talks about her treatment at the hands of the townspeople, because her transgressions are out in the open, and they can punish her. On the other end of the spectrum is the Reverend Dimmesdale, who fairly goes mad from guilt. Every person considers him a godly, amazing man, while he has actually sinned as much as Hester. His concealed sin eats away at him, and he constantly wishes that he would be brave enough to confess. Some of Dimmesdale’s torments are the cause of Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s former husband. Through Chillingworth, Hawthorne reveals the evilness of revenge. He also represents the punishment for Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin, and is a physical manifestation of their torment. At the same time, Chillingworth is both revenge and punishment. And in addit...
The first chapter sets the scene for the novel: Boston, during the seventeenth century. During this period, religion is the foundation for both the laws and the society. We are introduced to the town's cemetery and nearby prison. Next to the prison grows a wild rosebush. We can think of the wild rosebush as representing the beauty of nature, and the prison as the symbol of societies need to tame nature.
The first specific element of the chapters that I was confused about in which the resource helped me understand was in chapter 13. In the text it talked about how Hester never battled with the townspeople, but then the SparkNotes expanded more by saying that shed is really has as much hate because it turned into love because there was no new irritation. The second aspect of the story that I was confused about how Chillingworth was talking about his changes in his life, like how he has become mentally conformed. The last aspect of the story that I was confused about was in chapter sixteen. In the text it was talking about the “black man”. I first thought it mean a African American, but he resource helped me understand that they were talking
The Convicts, by Iain Lawrence, is a story of a young boy who faces great odds to complete his quest to help his father. This novel takes many twists and turns through the landscape of London, more specifically in nineteenth century London. However, London is not described in the picturesque view many people have come to know London as. Lawrence shows the uglier more rugged lifestyle of many poor people in London during this time period. Within a society like this in London, swindling, gangs, and prison become common subjects among the lower classes, especially in this novel. Although life was hard for many, the characters in this novel find adventure along the way while aboard ships and through underground sewers.
I have arrived at my new home. The boat trip was very rough, even to the extent of making me lose track of time. That unclean, floating mass of death was merciful enough to let me be. Too many children have suffered and died on the way to America. I miss Roger a little bit, and hope he comes soon. I'm very lonely and I don't know what I'll do to keep myself busy. Roger was nice enough to give me money to live off of until he comes to be with me. There are a lot of handsome men around here. A single woman could have a lot of fun, and never be by herself.
This breakaway begins with an introduction of a rose-bush. In a landscape that is "weather-stained," "antique," and "ugly," a delicate and beautiful flower is presented as a polar opposite to the area it grows in. Hawthorne begins introducing it in the same fashion he describes everything else in, as "a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems." However, Hawthorne then continues this description, breaking away from the usual, objective strategy. He talks about the "fragrance and fragile beauty" this bush might offer to a prisoner on their way into the prison. He even goes on to say that he hopes the bush will "symbolize some sweet moral blossom, that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow." This "light in the darkness" is a symbol of hope for the people of the dark colony just described. So while his purely skeptical and objective tone has prevailed throughout the chapter, this short description offers a chance for redemption for those Hawthorne
Hawthorne manages to create many metaphors within his novel The Scarlet Letter. The rose bush outside the prison door, the black man, and the scaffold are three metaphors. Perhaps the most important metaphor would be the scaffold, which plays a great role throughout the entire story. The three scaffold scenes which Hawthorne incorporated into The Scarlet Letter contain a great deal of significance and importance the plot. Each scene brings a different aspect of the main characters, the crowd or more minor characters, and what truth or punishment is being brought forth.
Authors use character development to show how a person can change. Through a descriptive portrayal of a charter and their development they become real to the reader. A well-developed character stirs up emotions in the reader making for a powerful story. A person can change for better or worse and Nathaniel Hawthorne shows this thru the character development of Hester, Chillingworth, and Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter.
In chapter one of The Scarlet Letter, Anne Hutchinson is considered a heroine because of her imprisonment. The chapter describes a rosebush that grew from where Anne had stepped into the prison. Rose bushes are usually associated with passion (beauty plus pain) or the church (as in Dante). Anne had a passion about her beliefs about the church and is a heroine. This rose bush grew in memory of her.