Essays on The Scarlet Letter

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 ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novels can be perceived as significant and resilient records of the contemporary Puritan society, disclosing the social and religious order prevalent at that time. His novels portray the clash between the individual and moral values and virtues and social goodness and ethical codes. Laurence Sargent Hall says: “The moral problem to be found wherever the individual’s mal- adjustment to society culminates in sin furnished Hawthorne with his major tragic themes. In the main this problem is worked out through some resolution by the individual of his mal- adjustment, an expiation of sin, by coming to ...

Question 1

Ahluwalia, G. (2013). Cosmetic applications of laser and light-based systems. Norwich, NY: William Andrew. Smith, G. (2013). Cosmetic applications of laser and light-based systems. Norwich, NY: William Andrew.

The book by Smith is a good point of reference for any person who may wish to undertake a research in this chapter. Not only is the book written in a simple language, the integration of points is exceptional, and the definition of terms meets the point. Smith gives a general overview of the process and argues that the process is beneficial. Although he does not address the principles, the book gives the basic ...

Question 11 - New World for the Puritans

What is now called the USA was initially the discovered new world of Columbus. Many people decided to build a new life there and travel hundreds of kilometers from their home in the UK or somewhere else in Europe. Some left in search of religious freedom, some – for seeking a new and better life, other were forced to go there either by someone or by the circumstances of their life. This was a new start for all. A new and better world was to be built. Puritans decided it was their calling to build and purify the existing social standards. Small ...

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 ...

Throughout the history, there have been noteworthy literacy movements, many of which have been over and done. Two of the most important literacy movements throughout the time have been transcendentalism and romanticism.

Transcendentalism was a literacy form in the 19th century. Under this literacy form, many writers have contributed in its movement. Among the major pioneers in this literacy form include Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Bronson Alcott Theodore Parker. Based on the works of these great transcendentalists I will elucidate the differences that exist between Romanticism and Transcendentalism.

Romanticism draws outs strong feelings and demonstrates significant actions. It is about a ...

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

...

RESEARCH PAPER

- What is your thesis? (This statement should be only one sentence long and must have three things in it: the name of the primary source author(s), the name of the primary source/story or stories, and the main idea that you are trying to prove. If possible, you may also provide a plan of development and list your 3-4 major points.) The paper tries to analyze whether the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story, Young Goodman Brown, is a hero or a dupe. It will show how Brown’s weaknesses, including conceit, leads to his demise. The analysis will ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne explores the idea of gender comprehensively in his work, The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne tells the sad story of love and betrayal in families. His story is based on the 17th century Puritan New England. The cultural values and morals observed by Hawthorne’s community influences the social and gender expectations of the narrative. Hawthorne develops an interesting tale by basing his perspective on the 17th century world, which significantly affects the development of characters. The Scarlet Letter highlights that community and individual characters observe strict codes that provide guidelines on how individuals are supposed to live. Furthermore, ...

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 ...

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 ...

The aim of this essay is to present you with a review of chapters 22-24 of the book ‘The Scarlet Letter’. Barlow (2000) refers to this book as ‘The magnum opus’ of Nathaneal. (Barlow, 2000). ‘The Scarlet Letter’ is a story of love, adultery, betrayal, faith, belief and social criticism which was published in 1850 and holds a little bit of all these elements which can attribute to it the characterization of being a romantic novel. The historical context of the novel’s plot is the social environment of the society living and developing in the area of Puritan Salem, in Massachusetts ...

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 ...

“In giving her existence, a great law had been broken; and the result was a being whose elements were perhaps beautiful and brilliant, but all in disorder, or with an order peculiar to themselves, amidst which the point of variety and arrangement was difficult or impossible to be discovered” (Hawthorne, Chapter 6 p. 98). The quote above generalizes Pearl’s character. She was the daughter of Hester Prynne, a woman living in the standards of the Puritan society condemned by the people as ‘brazen hussy’ who bears the scarlet letter ‘A’ fantastically embroidered upon her bosom (Hawthorne, Chapter 2 p. 57). ...

“Young Goodman Brown,” “The Birthmark” and “Ethan Brand” are all notably published works from the dark romanticism sub-genre era published by Nathaniel Hawthorne that have lead characters embracing the concepts of morality and isolation. Hawthorne is an American author well-known mostly for his writings in this particular classification of stories from 1839 to 1860. Hawthorne typically incorporates such topic as isolation, sin, and the devil in his writings. These topics can generate and fester sinister feelings and ideas of alienation, guilt, and gloom. Hawthorn draws influence from multiple aspects of his life, for example, incorporating the use of his ...

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 ...

[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 ...

Classic English Literature

Test of Faith in Young Goodman Brown In the short story "Young Goodman Brown," the author Nathaniel Hawthorne makes use of mystery and suspense in order to grasp the readers’ attention. This story is apparently a parable, bursting as it is filled with symbolism of the obscurity within the hearts of common people. The predominant message that Hawthorne intends to deliver through the story is about the powerlessness of the human race, and in order to convey the same, the author has used numerous literary techniques in an entertaining manner to the readers. The story seem to be predominantly ...

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 ...

Exploring he theme of Isolation in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories; “The Minister’s Black Veil”, “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Birthmark” Nathaniel Hawthorne is the author of many short stories in which he portrays his characters with some dilemma where they must make up their minds about what is wrong from what is right. His stories end with morals that can be learned through his characters’ actions. Most of the stories he wrote are filled with themes of guilt and there are many themes of loneliness and sadness. His main characters are reclusive and lived sheltered lives. ...

Thesis Statement 1: Society has a way of punishing people they envy by emphasizing the latter’s weakness and making a ridicule out of that individual only to boost their personal worth. - Claim: When the beautiful and poised Hester Prynne arrived at Boston, she came alone awaiting for the arrival of her husband Roger Chillingworth, however, to everyone’s knowledge. This made the women of Boston threatened by her.

Interpretation: That left the young, beautiful and poised Hester Prynne the interest of men. This grew the displeasure of the women of Boston. - Claim: Many believed that Hester ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

“Instructor’s name’

‘Subject’ “The Birth-Mark” and “The Cask of Amontillado” – A comparative study Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne are two important contributors of the nineteenth-century American literature. Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most celebrated authors, posthumously though, of the past century. Some of his stories are almost autobiographical, and though he lived in a previous era, his ideas were far ahead of his time. Nathaniel Hawthorne is an author, whose works are even today cited for seeking ethical guidance. His stories urge the reader to analyze his moral confusions. This essay is an attempt to compare and ...

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 ...

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 ...

The Kokako (Callaeas cinereus) is an imperiled timberland feathered creature which is endemic to New Zealand. It is slate-light black with wattles and a dark veil. It is one of three types of New Zealand Wattlebird, the other two being the close undermined Tieke (saddleback) and the wiped out Huia. Beforehand far reaching, Kokako populaces all around New Zealand have been wrecked by the predations of mammalian obtrusive species, for example, possums, stoats, felines and rats and their reach has contracted essentially. There are two sub-types of Kokako, North Island and South Island, in spite of the fact that the ...

Young Goodman Brown is a moral story about a Puritan minister, which is told by one religious leader. The author of the story is Nathaniel Hawthorne, who used unimportant concepts in order to show the story’s alternative meaning. In his allegorical story he symbolized the things and feelings in people’s life, like faith, love, fear and others, and different characters and setting are used to represent these feelings. The main character of the story, Goodman Brown ventures on a journey into the local forest and meets a devil, who tempts the man for different things. Young Brown must refuse that the ...

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/ ...

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,” ...

The aim of this essay is to present you with an analysis of the symbolism lying in the book ‘The Scarlet Letter’ which belongs to the genre of romantic novels and was published in 1850. Barlow (2000) refers to this book as ‘The magnum opus’ of Nathaneal.(Barlow, 2000). ‘The Scarlet Letter’ is a story of love, adultery, betrayal, faith, belief and social criticism. It is a story that has a little bit of all these elements which can attribute to a piece of writing the characterization being a romantic novel. The historical context of the novel’s plot is the social environment ...

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, ...

Introduction

Nathaniel Hawthorne ranks among the world’s major authors. His proficiency in the art of literature, particularly short fiction is unmatched. Two of his most famous works are Young Goodman Brown and The Minister’s Black Veil. In these two short fictional stories, Hawthorne portrays a romantic view of sin and people. Like many other romantic literature pieces, the setting of the stories is dark and gloomy. Religion plays a huge role in both stories. History reveals that the American nation was partly founded through the ideals of religion. From its inception, religion has helped to shape and define the modern ...

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 ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is an 1850 novel depicting the treatment of adulterous Hester Prynne in Puritan-era Boston, after her sin is discovered. This depiction of Puritan America is close to the author's heart; having been born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804, Hawthorne was likely fascinated by his region's Puritan past (particularly his ancestor John Hathorne, who was one of the judges during the Salem witch trials of 1692 (Miller 20-21). In investigating the attitudes and anxieties of the people living in colonial New England, Hawthorne explores the xenophobia, religious intolerance, and daily struggles of the people who ...

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of the claim made on the greatly renowned classic novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter. I would claim that the novel portrays various characters where it would be acceptable to mention and link them to the very controversial topic Women and Honor Killings. This paper clarifies how the story of the Scarlet Letter is a fine example of how women and honor killings occur in different societies and cultures and also with proper evidences it will be made further clear how this claim can be interrelated with the Hawthrone’s story and characters of ...

The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu once said, “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” Life is full of unexpected events; some of them are especially difficult and can harm our loved ones as well as ourselves. How do we respond to these kinds of events? Unwind, Beloved and The Scarlet Letter are among the books that make readers think about ordinary people who go through extraordinary events and major obstacles to protect themselves and their loved ones. Unwind is a science fiction novel by literary author Neal Shusterman. The novel takes ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

In the early pages of The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne observes that, when a town is founded, two institutions are needed first – a graveyard and a prison. According to Hawthorne’s Anti-Transcendentalist world view, human nature was anything but good, which meant that the first two certainties that would strike any new human settlement would be death and violation of the law. There are, of course, many kinds of prisons in the modern world. In addition to the traditional correctional facility, there are also forces at work in terms of cultural and social prejudice that keep members of different groups from reaching ...

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 ...

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 ...

Cheever, Susan. American Bloomsbury: Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau; Their Lives, Their Loves, Their Work. Detroit: Thorndike Press, 2006. Large print edition. ISBN 0-7862-9521-X.

This book is exciting and interesting as it focuses on the period where Hawthorne lived and when he made his contributions to literature in general. The comparisons with Alcott, Emerson, Fuller and Thoreau are also instructive containing several elements which are perhaps slightly different at first glance but which are the same essentially at the end of the day.

Crews, Frederick. The Sins of the Fathers: ...

“Our parson has gone mad!” cried Goodman Gray (Hawthorne, 2001, 26). The young minister, Mr. Hooper, shocked his parishioners one Sunday morning by wearing a black veil while he gave the sermon. Then to make the shock even worse the minister did not remove the veil even for his daily activities. He wore it all the time even though his fiancé broke their engagement and others cringed to see him coming.

The minister’s new look made a visible impression on those around but he would not explain to anyone the reason he started wearing a black crape veil over his eyes. ...

Federico’s Ghost by Martin Espada is an intriguing poem of advocacy which attempts to give a voice to those who do not have a chance to speak and who are alone in the world. This suggests an intertwining of aesthetics and politics especially in this poem which refers to the ghost of a child who appears to help those which are currently oppressed. The poem deals with the story of a young boy who is called Federico and who works tilling the land in tomato fields, back breaking work for almost no pay in a desperately poor family who do not have ...

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 ...

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 ...

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. ...

Nathanial Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” was published in a collection of short stories in 1845. The writer has used three dimensional characters which allow him to explore his themes of human perfections and of how women can be shaped by men’s interpretations. Through the use of language, tone and character, Hawthorne has created a fascinating, and deeply gripping’ story. “The Birthmark” covers a variety of different themes. The tone of this short story is dark and, at times, haunting. However, it the strong use of dialogue gives it a subtlety that other narratives with dark atmospheres do not have. Dialogue aside, the ...

It should be no surprise that the idea of utopia has often been explored by American writers, since one could argue that America itself exists as a sort of utopian ideal. The words of the Declaration of Independence posit a sort of utopia in their idealistic talk of ’life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ This is very bound up with the notion of America as a new world, a new place where fresh starts can be made and the mistakes of the past avoided: The utopian passages in Euro-American writings tended to elevate American spaces and colonists by comparing them to ...

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 ...