The Scarlet Letter College Essays Samples For Students

The Long Black veil, is a song composed by Johnny Cash and expresses numerous elements similar to the ones discussed by Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter. These two pieces of literature expounds on the theme regarding the sin of adultery that ultimately hurts the characters in the stories. In the song Long Black Veil, a man is falsely charged with murder. However, he fails to give an alibi since, on the night when another man was killed, the man was having an affair with the wife of his best friend, and he claims that he would rather die and take ...

An Explanation of How Hester Prynne Portrays the Author’s View

of America’s Transition from Puritanism to Romanticism
3 pages, double-spaced

Times New Roman, 12 pt

869 words
Page set up: U.S. Letter
5 citations

MLA format

The novel, The Scarlet Letter, was written by the author Nathaniel Hawthorne and was published in 1850 (1). It is a story about the Puritan settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, set around 1650 (2). The story is written in the third person with the narrator being the author.
The common thread that runs through this novel is Hawthorne’s apparent understanding of the beliefs and culture of the Puritans in America at that time. But ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne, Toni Cade and Alice Walker are the perfect descriptions of talented literary commentators and writers of the ancient or classical times. However, there is a cutting edge and the common denominator in all the three stories. They resonate well with the strength of the human spirit and how they strive to overcome injustices and unfair treatment. For instance, Alice Walker did an interesting and eye-opening short story which highlighted the struggles of the black community in the United States of America. The story was titled The Colour Purple. This is an interesting piece which highlights the plight of ...

Classic English literature: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Introduction
There has been a lot of growth and development in the American literature docket over centuries, and it is necessary to note the fact that each phase has had various impacts, not only on the scholars in the American literary field and abroad, but also on the American people, themselves. Literature is one of the tools that have been used over the years to intrigue people’s way of thinking, and most essentially, their approach and opinion towards various aspects that affect their day to day activities and surroundings. This is one of the reasons why literature, as a ...

This paper will discuss the relevance of studying the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne in the twenty first century. The paper commences by providing a brief history on Nathaniel Hawthorne. Thereafter, it will provide a chronology of some of his primary works. It will also provide reasons as to why Nathaniel Hawthorne is still popular very many years after his death . In addition, the paper will discuss some of the major themes contained in his literary works. Also, the paper will look into the symbols and settings that Hawthorne used; taking note of the significance of the aspects in his writings.
...

Revenge is part of human nature. It’s almost like a reflex – an automatic response to hurt and betrayal. Yet is revenge necessarily bad? What does it say about humanity?

In the novel The Scarlet Letter, revenge is seen as a selfish impulse that the characters used to obtain justice and redeem their self-worth. Unlike the stereotypical depiction of revenge that uses violence, silence is the motif that was prevalent in the novel. This, too, was used as the medium by which revenge was taken.

In the prison cell where Hester was held, Chillingworth and Hester were juxtaposed, and although Chillingworth ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is the narrative of a fallen woman whose story is not the result of her own innate character, but of social forces which execute their power upon her and the subsequent transformations that these forces evoke. Thus, the personal opinion of this reader is that Hester Prynne truly is a courageous heroine who, prone to flaws like all human beings, makes a choice, which changes her life forever. Whether it was a wrong choice or a feat any of us would endeavor upon is questionable, because as it was said, it is not so much Hester’s instinctive ...

Because of the society she lives in, Hester’s enforced wearing of the scarlet letter is intended to be a punishment, an admonition by the puritan New England society she lives in, but as the novel proceeds the effect on Hester is not what her society expected and the letter itself comes to stand for things other than ‘Adulteress’. This paper will argue that the effect of the letter on Hester is, by the end of the novel, to make her as accepted member of society again and that the scarlet letter is not effective in the way it was ...

Introduction

The novel, The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850, has a protagonist named Hester Prynne who was forced to live in solitude for her act of adultery. The novel is phased in the era of 1960s which is almost two centuries prior to its year of publication and aims at explaining the plight of a woman who was forced to live with the imposed consequences by the members of the Puritan community in the city of Salem, Massachusetts. With respect to the analysis of her character in the novel, there are some stark contradictions affixed to her ...

Romanticism is an element that has played a crucial role in the development of literature from the 18th century. This philosophy has had a noticeable effect on many literature works including Nathaniel’s The Scarlet Letter. It is easy to identify its influence in the novel because it is very clear that Nathaniel Hawthorne was a supporter of romanticism and that is the reason he presents many issues with the philosophy of romanticism in the novel. The Scarlet Letter is a gothic romanticism novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne during the romanticism period. The book features the story of two ...

Bad faith in The Scarlet Letter

It can be really difficult to come to a decision when the outside world persuades you to meet your own wishes first. Being by nature a weak-willed creature, people are inclined to rash actions and misguided dealings. We are, at times, sneaky and foolish. Sometimes even the good intentions we may have and a deep longing to act justly may also be seen as a display of bad faith. According to Sartre, bad faith is the use of freedom without the acknowledgement of its presence (Detmer 203). Being consciously aware of their bad conduct, people still refuse to ponder ...

When the young woman – the mother of this child – stood fully revealed before the crowd, it seemed to be her first impulse to clasp the infant closely to her bosom; not so much by an impulse of motherly affection, as that she might thereby conceal a certain token, which was wrought or fastened into her dress. In a moment, however, wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another, she took the baby on her arm, and with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s renowned novel The Scarlet Letter exemplifies America’s Puritan past and exposes this community as marred by religious intolerance, highly vindictive spirit and the suppression of all things connected to Nature, as opposed to eternal salvation that is the result of a chaste life. Hawthorne opens up about his ancestral guilt with a darkness no optimism can illuminate, retaining the realism of his work and baring the true face of Puritanism, rendering it repressive and authoritarian, but simultaneously utilizing this community as an analogue for the general human condition. His personal religious beliefs were shaken on his having ...

When Herman Melville was writing, capital punishment was a much more commonly used punishment than it is in our own time, and as much as modern death penalty opponents talk about the mistaken use of it in cases when the convict has been wrongly sentenced, the swiftness of the execution and the shoddiness of the evidentiary requirements in Melville’s time were comparatively barbaric. Captain Vere is typical of the sort of judge who would have rendered that sentence in that day, brought in at the last moment and then hearing a fairly swift (and legally shaky) summary of ...

[Institution Title]

Background of the Study

A useful lesson to illustrate a major pedagogical theory in education involves a close reading lesson given in the ninth grade English class. Many high schools English teachers report that their students lack the skill of reading a passage, whether fiction or non-fiction, and successfully draw inferences and figurative meanings or even critically analyze the readings. These figurative meanings are crucial to understanding the rhetorical argument of the piece, making this a vital skill. Furthermore, writing is also as complex a learning activity as reading that fosters the act of critically arranging the words to make perfect sense.

Theoretical Framework

The proposed activity emanates ...

Hawthorne’s presentation of the wilderness in The Scarlet Letter is both literal – the unexplored and untamed wildness of forest beyond the town – and also metaphorical – he describes Hester’s as being cast into a “moral wilderness” because of her punishment at the hands of the Puritan community of New England. At the same time, Hester’s life in the “moral wilderness” and the forest itself are always juxtaposed with civilization – or the Puritan civilization of 17th century New England. Hawthorne was descended from New England Puritans, but as a Transcendentalist he has a rather different attitude to the wilderness and nature. ...

Hester is the hero of the novel. She is portrayed as an energetic, lovely, lively, and glad lady. When she is initially introduced in the story, there is as of now an embarrassment joined to her name that is symbolized by the red letter "A". She holds her head high and stays in full general visibility without shedding a tear when she goes to jail. Her soul is likewise reflected in her brightening the red letter with gold string.
Hester's quality of character out in the open, is truth be told, her method for steeling herself against her inward ...

1. Activity 8: Write a poem on something I’d like to be free from

I’d like to shed, my busy head.

It’s full of sound and fury.
It spins all day, and I must say,
It hounds my heart with worry.
I don’t know why, I pace and sigh.

Perhaps it’s cuz, I truly love
Life here in my cocoon.
Could I fear the day I break away
When I am fully grown
Of a world that’s not my own?
2. Activity 12: Write a realistic poem about a circumstance in the world that I care about

They came for religious freedom

...

Morality is a personal distinction of the right and wrong. What is moral to you might not be moral to a friend, neighbour or even to a family member. Morality is not however equated to ethics. In our readings, we have differentiated the two concepts. While morality is an individual distinction of just and unjust, ethics is a societal standard of right and wrong. For example, bowing to elderly is an ethical standard to most Asian communities but it isn’t in the western communities. An anti-feudal Korean may however find no moral ground for the idea of respect when bowing. Thus, what ...

One of the finest American writers during the 18th century, Nathaniel Hawthorne was a confident man and utterly skilled in his craft. Most of his stories contain allegorical devices that captivated readers of all generations. Likewise, he was odds with Edgar Allan Poe, who was more freeform with his words, indulging in prose that explored the recesses of his imagination without becoming moralistic or allegorical (Hawthorne, v-vii). Aside from The Scarlet Letter a novel recollecting a feverish nightmare, thus suffocating the reader with its dark prose and allegory. On the other hand, The Birthmark, Hawthorne tries to recreate the 18th century nuptials ...

Literature: Essay

Blithedale Romance written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1852 is called one of his un-humorous fictions. The Novel covers the age of mid 1800s in the community of Blithedale. There are few characters projecting a mix of feelings about their viewpoint of the world. The hero of the novel is Miles Coverdale, who is desirous of improving the life standards of the community through agrarian lifestyle. The fictional story is somewhat confusing as it projects the darker side of the individuals and the reader feels like going into a depression due to the strange twist of events and sudden appearances and re-appearances ...

Characters make up all stories; it is what makes them interesting. The character in the story is a figure around which action revolves. Be it humans, figures, animals, the author can make a character out of anything (Josephs, 1995). The aspects that make an individual identify a character as such, are the aspects to which the author reveals to them, either diegetically or mimetically (Josephs, 1995). In a diegetic characterization, the author reveals to the readers the character by explicitly telling them who he is. This achievement uses the third person where the author is in the observer’s position and reveals his/ ...

Introduction

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown, like all good stories, has all the ingredients that keep the reader interested. The Story starts off when an innocent young man goes on a journey across the forest. He is a married man from the village of Salem who takes pride in the community and its leaders. His illusions regarding his society are refuted when he realizes that many of the people in his town, including his wife and the religious leaders are going to attend a Black Mass. Although one is not able to tell whether the story is a nightmare or a true story, it ...

A well-known American writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on the 4th of July 1804. Salem in Massasuchetts, a city, was the place of birth of the novelist. Nathaniel’s forefathers, the Hathornes, are well known in New England history. Nathaniel changed his second name adding a ‘w' to make it Hawthorne with the intention of hiding his relations to his father and the forefathers. Why would he want to hide his relations to his forefathers? Nathaniel came from a rather long line of puritan ancestors. The ancestors, including his father, were involved in witch trials that frequently took place in Salem, which ...

In “Young Goodman Brown,” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses a variety of literary devices in creating a story with a strong theme and characters which are fully rounded and believable. Of these devices, his use of symbolism and imagery are rife. This is of the more well-known stories exploring 17th Century Puritanism and, even on a first read, it is clear why. Hawthorne depicts the chosen situation carefully and convincingly to the reader, not only entertaining them but also informing them as well. As with many of Hawthorne’s works, this story has been discussed by many academics in the field over the years since it ...

When considering the genre of Romantic Fiction, it is important to distinguish two main criteria. The first one is that the story should tell about the relationship and romantic love between two people. Secondly, the positive end of the story leaves the reader believing that love and relationship are very real and endure right next to them, and that love wins at all.
In literature, realism expresses real situations, real people and real events, whereas romanticism shows messages by using fiction. Romanticism focuses on plot, hyperbole, metaphor and feeling. In contrast, realism focuses on characters, details, objectivity and separation ...

The first chapter of Leo Marx’s book ‘The Machine in the Garden. Technology and the Pastoral Idea in America’ is named Sleepy Hollow. This name is derived from one of Nathaniel’s Hawthorne’s writings whereby he describes a small space scooped out among the woods which is used for farming Indian corn and which according to Hawthorne “is like the lap of a bounteous Nature, filed with bread stuff”(Marx 12).
Hawthorn observes various elements of nature and appreciates the ability of nature to provide a calm and serene environment to think and be imaginative. The nature ...

The novels, “The Scarlet Letter, “Othello”, and “Snow Falling on Cedars” all have a common theme. All three examine the impact the lies can have on one’s life. In “The Scarlet Letter”, Hester, the main character, endures imprisonment and a public shaming for her crime of adultery. She also must take her baby with her to jail. The Reverend Dimmesdale insists that she reveals the name of the father, when she refuses she is sent back to jail (Hawthorne, 1986).After three years she is let out of prison, but is forced to live on the ...

Conflict is a violent dispute or incompatibility of views positions between individuals or groups. Conflicts are normal and inevitable and inherent feature of human existence. For conflicts to be present, key issues must be taken into consideration since the analysis of issues gives or assist in the identification of parties to the conflict hence the meaning of the systems in the conflict.
As such conflict situations involve cases where individuals or parties have divergent views or incompatible aims which motivate and influence their behavior. As such, the behavior shown by the parties is what will determine the issues in ...

The Popol Vuh is the Mayan story of creation. The Mayans believe that Hero Twins Xbalanqué and Hunahpú created them. It provides a narrative that accounts for the creation of all living beings in the world. Like the biblical creation story, Animals were first related, and then human beings. While the Popol Vuh is interesting for it’s insight into the ancient Mayan people, it is also interesting in it’s context of other mythical stories which emerged from other cultures after they had grown to the size of a full-blown civilization. One of the most important stories of any people ...

Nowadays, people tend to care too much what other people may think about them, sometimes making sacrifices beyond their possibilities, for the sake of appearances. The story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant teaches us a very good life lesson regarding this issue and in another order of ideas, we can call it the deceptiveness of appearances. The main character of the story, Mathilde, never felt that the normal life she had fits her, and she always dreamed on being wealthy and making part of the social class. She had her change to bright for a couple of hours at a social ...

Literature often deals with various conflicts involving people; wars, families, cultures, nations, and many other factors pit one or more people against each other. However, pivotal moments in literature often occur within the characters themselves. A character may struggle within himself, and this internal struggle can reveal much about the character and therefore the aim of the literature. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” and James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” are short stories that deal intimately with the internal conflict of their protagonists, which reveals much about the characters.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “Young Goodman Brown,” ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birth-Mark is a short story examining obsessions with human perfection. The romantic short story was first published in 1843. It tells of the life of Aylmer, an intelligent scientist and philosopher who abandons his experiments and career to marry Georgina. Georgina is physically perfect save for a red birthmark on her neck in the shape of human hand. Aylmer becomes excessively obsessed with the birthmark on Georgina’s cheek as the story progresses. One night, the philosopher and scientist dreams of cutting the birthmark on his wife’s cheek and progresses all the way to the heart ...

Bio fuel cells utilize biocatalysts for the conversion of chemical energy stored in glucose into electrical energy. Bio-catalyzed oxidation of glucose or other organic substances at two electrode interfaces provides a means for conversion of chemical energy into electrical energy. The obtainable power of a fuel cell (P cell) is the product of cell voltage (V cell) and the cell current (I cell)

The ideal voltage id affected by the difference in potential of the oxidizer and fuel as represented in the equation

(E◦1ox - E◦1fuel), with irreversible losses in voltage caused by kinetic limitations of electron movement, (η). Resistance and differences in concentration gradients of the energy source lead to decreased voltage values. As represented below
P cell = ...

Literature

The American literature in the 19th century produced colorful plays, novels, fiction, poetry, essays and native literary pieces. The boundaries of the 19th century American literature were restrictive and presented three challenges to explain the narrow understanding due to the prolonged 19th century, the expansion of literature among genre and the asymmetry of the U.S. and America (Castronovo 1). In the case of famous writers Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne, a comparison of their works has given their audience the opportunity to play with their imagination by feeling a mix of emotions that may bring them to an eerie, sublime, ...

Poe’s theory major statement pertaining his work is considered to be “The Poetic Principle.” He first delivered it in the 1848 in Rhodes Island when he was giving a lecture on it. This presentation was reported to have drawn an audience of two thousand people. It later took two years for the lecture to be printed on paper and where he never saws the prints as he had died the year before. In his theory, he read and briefly summerized or rather discussed a few poems by other writers. It also included several statements where he restated the purpose of ...

Revenge is one of the most powerful feelings that people can experience in their lives. It is not surprising that writers, film makers and other representatives of the art actively use it in their work. In the past we can find such works as Shakespeare's Othello and Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, and the recent film V for Vendetta continues developing on this theme. By analyzing these stories, we can see how depiction of revenge and, consequently, its perception by people has changed over time. In each of these plots there is a character that is so absorbed by this ...

This essay deals with the question of irony in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown,” where one man’s journey into the forest, late at night, and the sights he witnesses there, change his life forever. Seeing that all the people he thought devout, pious and morally upright, are actually devil worshippers, even his own wife Faith, Brown loses his own faith in humanity and becomes an estranged person.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown” conveys an attack on the eccentric Puritan dogma, which utilized a strong moral concept, simultaneously brutally punishing all those who disobeyed. The ...