Major Works Data Sheet



West Forsyth (3A)

Major Works Data Sheet

AP Language and Composition

|Title of Work: Scarlet Letter |Characteristics of the genre |

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|Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne |Historical fiction is a story set in a time previous to that of the writer and |

| |reader, with characters who react in varying degrees to historical events. |

|Date of Publication: 1850 |Historical fiction is based upon facts but has been fictionalized by creating |

| |characters and events which may not have been accurate but make for a good |

|Genre: Romance |story |

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|Historical Information about the period of publication: |Biographical information about the author |

|This romantic fiction was published in 1850, which began Nathaniel Hawthorne’s |Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4th in 1804 in Salem Massachusetts. His |

|most profitable period. In 1850 America was trying its hardest to unite the |childhood was surrounded by the influence of Puritans; Hawthorne added the “w” |

|states and become one nation. In the years prior to 1850 America struggled with |to his last name to separate from his family’s shame during the witch trails. |

|theslave and non slave states. Luckily the Compromise of 1850 helped solve |As a young child his father, a ship captain, passed away. He attended Bowdoin |

|thedebate on this issue. |College and tried to peruse a writing career, eventually he had to work as a |

| |Boston custom house measurer to make a living. Hawthorne died at the age of |

|Theromantic and scandalous storyline was very rare for this time. Other books |sixty on May 19, 1864, in Plymouth, New Hampshire after battling an illness. |

|published at this time were “Moby Dick” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”| |

|These story lines are nothing more than adventures and journey’s of fictional |"Biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne." Biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Grade |

|characters. |Saver. Web. 02 June 2012. . |

|Citations: | |

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|"TheCompromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act." PBS. PBS, 2012.Web. 03 June | |

|2012. . | |

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|"The ScarletLetter." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 29 May 2012. Web. 03 | |

|June2012. . | |

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|Plot summary: |

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|At the beginning of the book, Hester Prynne is publicly humiliated for committing adultery. She was sent to America by her husband, who was to follow shortly her,|

|but did not show up. In his absence, Hester gave birth to a child. She is on the scaffolds with her baby, Pearl, and Arthur Dimmesdale, the town’s beloved pastor,|

|because the man involved is left a mystery. Arthur Dimmesdale is trying to get Hester to confess the man involved in the adultery but she refuses to share her |

|secret. Hester is forced to wear the letter “A” on her bosom for all to be reminded of her crime and was ostracized. During the confrontation, a man comes into |

|town. Roger Chillingworth, a doctor, was Hester’s old husband. Upon hearing the news about his old wife, he creates a false identity and devotes his time trying |

|to find the man responsible. Hester is the only person that knows Chillingworth’s true identity and was sworn to secrecy. Hester and Pearl lived in a small |

|cottage outside of Boston where Hester earned a living by becoming a seamstress. Several chapters later, Chillingworth moves in with Dimmesdale to help his |

|growing illness. The two develop a strong friendship. Shortly into the friendship, the reader finds out Chillingworth discovers Dimmesdale is the man responsible |

|for the crime with Hester. Instead of telling Dimmesdale’s secret, Chillingworth decides to let his guilty conscience kill him slowly. It wasn’t long until |

|Dimmesdale could not take the guilt, so he went on the scaffold late one night to confess. Hester and Pearl happen to be out and saw his confession. Dimmesdale, |

|Hester, and Pearl, who was now seven, all took hands. Pearl questions Dimmesdale about his public confession but Dimmesdale was not ready to tell his daughter. A |

|meteor went across the sky and made an A, much like the one Hester wore on her chest. Hester planned a meeting in the forest with Dimmesdale where they discussed |

|plans to move to England to be a family. Dimmesdale gave an election speech a few hours later but he intended to leave town. Dimmesdale knows what is right and |

|confessed to the town on the scaffold, with Hester and Pearl at his side. He revealed a scarlet letter seared into his skin on his chest and fell over dead. |

|Hester and Pearl leave but return sometime later. On their return they find out Chillingworth had died as well. Chillingworth had left all of his possessions to |

|Pearl. |

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|Describe the author’s style: |Give an example that demonstrates this style, and explain how it does so: |

| |In the “Scarlet Letter”, Hawthorne uses allegories in the scene where Hester |

|Hawthorne’s writing usually has allegories, morals, and a sermon-like feel. He |and Dimmesdale step into the light in the middle of the forest to show truth |

|uses these to paint pictures of life, and universal themes that played into the |being shown, and also in the stark contrasts of ‘light versus darkness’, and |

|Puritan lifestyle. Good versus evil and other extreme opposites are the themes he|when things are being revealed if it is light or dark. The morals play a part |

|used the most. These showed the black-and-white thinking of the Puritans. |throughout the novel by showing the inner conflict of Hester to reveal or keep |

| |the secret of who Pearl’s father is, and in the inner conflict of Dimmesdale |

| |and Chillingworth as well. The lengthiness of chapters, descriptions, and |

| |explanations, show Hawthorne’s tendency to lecture on a subject. At the |

| |beginning of chapter 2, Hawthorne's style is evident through his use of overly |

| |explanatory descriptions of the jail and of those waiting at the jail. His |

| |descriptions using words like "Iron-clamped", "grim rigidity" , "scourged", |

| |"witch", "solemnity" and "cold", all show the Puritan character, and their |

| |outlook on those who deviated from their way of life. The length of his |

| |sentences also shows the tenancy to lecture to an unnecessary end. source: |

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| |Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Ch. 2, The ScarletLetter: A Romance. |

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| |Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1850. 23Sep. 1999. |

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|Memorable Quotations |

|Quotation (and speaker) |Significance: |

|1. On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an |This is the set up and introduction of the letter A for the readers. It |

|elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the |acquaints the audience with a symbol that reappears over and over again. |

|letter A. (Ch 2 p.43) | |

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|2. “Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, |Here Dimmesdale is pleading with Hester to reveal him as her fellow sinner in |

|believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand |front of the assembled crowd. He speaks of hypocrisy being bad for the heart, |

|there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so than to hide |but he only foreshadows the problems he will encounter later on. |

|a guilty heart through life. What can they silence do for him, except it tempt | |

|him-yea, compel him, as it were-to add hypocrisy to sin? (Ch3 p.53) -Dimmesdale | |

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|3. A man burdened with a secret should especially avoid the intimacy of |This quote shows irony because Chillingworth is Dimmesdale’s physician and he |

|his physician. (Ch 9 p.97) |has a secret that, unbeknownst to either men, affects the doctor as well. |

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|4. Calm, gentle, passionless, as he appeared, there was yet, we fear, a |This passage indicates for me, just how mean Chillingworth is and how much I |

|quiet depth of malice, hitherto latent, but active now, in this unfortunate old |do not care for him. |

|man, which led him to imagine a more intimate revenge than any mortal had ever | |

|wreaked upon an enemy. (Ch 11 p. 109) | |

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| |The minister is speaking to Pearl and Hester here. This quote is important |

|5. “Ye have both been here before, but I was not with you. Come up hither |because it is another example of Dimmesdale wanting to share in the guilt that|

|once again, and we will stand all three together.” (Ch 12 p. 119) -Dimmesdale |Hester and Pearl have had to openly deal with. |

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|6. And there stood the minister, with his hand over his heart; and Hester |This passage sums up the entire past of this unique family and the shame they |

|Prynne, with the embroidered letter glimmering on her bosom; and little Pearl, |each carry. The fact that they all have a symbol really pulls the plot |

|herself a symbol, and the connecting link between the two. (Ch 12 p. 120) |together. |

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| |The entire scene, from which this quotation comes, shows how much Hester has |

|7. “Mother,” said little Pearl, “the sunshine does not love you. It runs |had to suffer. The author shows readers that not even the sun cares for |

|away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom…” (Ch 16 |Hester. Furthermore, the audience sees the intelligence Pearl possesses. |

|p. 144) -Pearl | |

|8. “We are not, Hester, the worst sinners in the world. There is one worse|Here Dimmesdale comforts Hester as she battles with self hatred for her sins. |

|than even the polluted priest! That old man’s revenge has been blacker than my |The author reveals just how bad Chillingworth’s sin is in comparison and how |

|sin. He has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart…” (Ch 17 p. |important the sanctity of the heart is to him. |

|153) -Dimmesdale | |

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|9. “And will he always keep his hand over his heart?” (Ch 19 p. 167) |This shows Pearl’s persceptiveness and how aware she is of her surroundings. |

|-Pearl |This also reminds readers that Dimmesdale’s heart hurts and Hester’s always |

| |aware of the Scarlet letter on her bosom. |

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| |To me, this quote shows that the author uses the forest as a place to reveal |

|10. “We must not always talk in the market-place of what happens to us in |the truth and that the characters hold the forest as a sanctuary and refuse to|

|the forest.” (Ch 22 p. 188) - Hester |carry those truths into the open. |

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|Major Characters |

|Character’s name: |Role (what role does this person have in |Significance (why is this character |Character traits (what sort of person is |

| |the story?) |significant to the story?) |this?) |

|Hester Prynne |Protagonist |The events in the novel revolve around |Hester is a loving mother and tries to be|

| | |Hester and her struggle of being an |kind to those around her. She may seem |

| | |adulterer. Hester is also used to show the|bitter at some times because of the |

| | |poor treatment of women during the time |horrible ways she is treated at times. |

| | |of the Puritans. | |

|Pearl |Hester’s daughter |Pearl is unknowingly wise and is able to |Mischievous, Wild |

| | |realize things that aren’t stated so | |

| | |subtly. She is happy around her true | |

| | |father and hateful around others like | |

| | |Roger Chillingworth. | |

|Roger Chillingworth |Hester’s husband and major antagonist |Roger comes into the novel looking for |Vengeful, Angry, Malevolent |

| | |revenge. He sues the fact that he is a | |

| | |doctor to make the people of Boston | |

| | |appreciate him. He also uses his knowledge| |

| | |to get closer to Dimmsdale. | |

|Rev. Dimmesdale |Hester’s lover |Dimmsdale hurts from inside because he |Eloquent speaker, intelligent, troubled |

| | |has to watch Hester go through all the | |

| | |pain and turmoil. His allegiance to the | |

| | |church is more important than what he has | |

| | |with Hester therefore he finds it hard to| |

| | |confess because it will not only hurt his| |

| | |standing, but also his community. | |

| |Leader in the community who is in power |As governor, Bellingham is sought as the | |

|. Bellingham | |authority figure and he makes decisions | |

| | |such as Hester being allowed to keep Pearl| |

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| |The sister of Bellingham who lives in his |Hibbins is important because she shows the|Devilish, Strange, Dark, Conniving, Evil, |

|6.Mistress Hibbins |house and sneaks out at night to be a witch|hypocrisy of the town because although she|Crazy |

| |in the woods |is known to be a witch, she is not put on | |

| | |trial because of who she is related to. | |

| |Reverend Wilson is the more elderly |Wilson serves the role of the more strict |Strict, Pure, Powerful, Caring |

|7.John Wilson |clergyman who is very strict and who |religious leader and is the stereotypical | |

| |preaches much more damnation than |Puritan and is one of the men who judge | |

| |Dimmesdale. |Hester. | |

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|Describe the setting(s) and the mood the setting(s) create: |What is the significance of the opening scene? |

|Settings: |The Scaffold located at the west end of town is significant in itself because in |

|The Scarlet Letter takes place in Puritan town during the 17th century. |literature, the west signifies the end. Therefore, the beginning of this book can |

|Boston, Massachusetts. |be inferred to be the end of something involving Hestor. Hawthorne is trying to |

|In Hester’s Cottage – Hester and Pearl |reveal that Hestor is at the end of her innocence because of having a child |

|The Church – Hester, Pearl, the preacher, Dimmesdale |without her husband. Also this is the first time you see the scaffold, a recurring|

|The Scaffold- Hester and Pearl, Dimmesdale joins them once in the night |symbol in the book. This is where Hestor first stands trial for her sins. During |

|Moods: |this trial, Dimmsdale basically begs her to reveal him as her fellow sinner; but, |

|Bitter- Everyone feels bitter towards Hester and what she has done because it is |she refuses to give him up. She is sentenced to wear the scarlet letter as a |

|not right. |symbol of the sin for the rest of her life. |

|Hatred- Everyone has hatred for her and whoever she had committed adultery with. | |

|Love- Even though Pearl was a “mistake’ Hester still loves her. | |

|Evil- Pearl has a slight devil side. | |

|Sneaky- When Hester is keeping the father of Pearl a secret. | |

|Anxiety- Hester and her lover feel this while they are keeping their secret. | |

|Sadness- They aren’t allowed to share their secret and be happy together. | |

|Desperate- Longing to want the truth out and the burden off their chest. | |

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|Major symbols, motifs, images: |What is the significance of the ending/closing scene? |

|Scarlet “A” : represents her sins and mistakes she has made in the past and |Just before the actual closing scene Chillingworth dies by the scaffold which |

|baring a child out of wed-lock. From adultery to “able” the “A” changed the |concludes the scaffold motif which appeared in the beginning, middle, and end of |

|symbol and meaning behind it throughout the book. |the book. It is a symbol of confession, as he confesses to his sins of adultery |

| |and becomes free. The closing scene focuses on the deaths of Chillingworth and |

|Pearl: she was not only her daughter but was the purest character in the book, |Hester, who are buried beside each other sharing a headstone with nothing but the |

|however she was a physical symbol of Hester’s sin. |letter A on a black background. This symbolizes not only Hester’s sin as an |

| |adulterer but also Chillingworth’s. The graves are far enough apart that “the dust|

|Red “A” on Dimmesdale: Dimmesdale did not physically wear an “a” to represent his|of the sleepers had no right to mingle, even in death.” This signifies that |

|sin because no one knew that he was the one Hester committed the sin with, but he|although they were buried together, the puritan society does not condone what they|

|had a red mark on his chest to symbolize his own adultery and sin committed. |did. |

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|The scaffold: Dimmesdale had a hard time confessing his sins on the platform in | |

|front of everyone and his was a symbol of judgment from the town towards | |

|Dimmesdale. | |

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|Rose Bush: the bush was across the prison for the prisoners to look at for a | |

|symbol of hope and more chances to come to them. | |

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|Sun Rays on Pearl: symbolizes the pureness in Pearl and the happiness of Hester | |

|inside of Pearl. She is her love and life and the sunrays shining down on Pearl | |

|showed she was the only pure one of Hester and Dimmesdale. | |

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|Themes: |

|Evil: Characters debate the "Black Man" which is evil and is linked with Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. Pearl also represents evil because she is considered to be a |

|devil child. They try to find the causes of evil and reveal the Puritanical idea of sin. |

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|Sin: Hester and Dimmesdale's situation relates to Adam and Eve's because their sin causes expulsion in both. |

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|Nature: It is the opposite of Puritanism and Hawthorne shows this by contrasting the black flower of the prison which punishes sin with the red rose bush which |

|Hawthorne thinks forgive the people who are sentenced to death. |

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|Individuals vs. Society: Hester Prynne and and Dimmesdale are trying to overcome the problems within themselves for committing adultery while also trying to make |

|peace with the Puritan society they live in. |

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|Possible Topics/Questions for Discussion: |

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|1- What is the significance of the brook in this story? |

|2- What do you notice about certain characters health as the plot unwinds? |

|3- What is the significance of the flowers in the story? |

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