Sunday, October 31, 2010

Emma Gira
If Arthur Dimmesdale was not originally on the board that decided Hester's punishment for her sin, do you think anything would have happened differently? And if it would change how so?
Emma Gira
October 31

STAARS written in TEARS format

In the historical fiction novel, The Scarlet Letter, the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne discusses one major subject of confession. Nathaniel Hawthorne describes how the confession of sins, although hard to bear in the beginning, can ultimately save a person from a life of shame and depression. Confessing and displaying one's sin proudly and without embarrassment can cause others to eventually come to respect that person. In the novel confession is viewed as important, respectable and necesary. Hawthorne appears to be sending this message to any reader who may feel ashamed or eaten up inside due to an unconfessed sin. In the novel, Reverend Dimmesdale, appears to be sickly, but his apparent illness is due to the misery of hiding his secret for so many years and not confessing it with Hester. This is shown when the reverend meets Hester in the forest. "Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret! Thou little knowest what a relief it is, after the torment for seven years' cheat, to look into an eye that recognizes me for what i am!" (200).

English III Honors at Brockport High School: Blog Instructions

David Steves
27 October 2012
2 AC
STAARS for The Crucible

S: Sin
T: Doing a wrong deed can alter someone’s life and turn it to a different path. After years of trying to fix the wrongs in life, the “weight” of those faults is still carried on the back of that person.
A: Dark, foreboding, Victorian
A: Anyone who historical fiction
R: Foreshadowing
S: “The mother’s impassioned state had been the medium through which were transmitted to the unborn infant the rays of its moral life; and, however white and clear originally, they had taken the deep stains of crimson and gold, the fiery luster, the black shadow, and the untempered light of the intervening substance” (Page 94).
“Nay,” rejoined the young minister, putting his hand to his heart, with a flush of pain flitting over his brow, “were I worthier to walk there, I could be better content to toil here” (Page 126).

The Victorian novel The Crucible by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a Historical Fiction about Puritan life in New England in the late 1600’s. Hawthorne uses foreshadowing throughout the book to give the reader a sense of what is to come in the story. An example of this rhetorical strategy is, “The mother’s impassioned state had been the medium through which were transmitted to the unborn infant the rays of its moral life; and, however white and clear originally, they had taken the deep stains of crimson and gold, the fiery luster, the black shadow, and the untempered light of the intervening substance” (Page 94). This sentence is foreshadowing about Hester Prynne’s child, and how even though the baby did not commit adultery like her mother she is still “stained” by her mother’s sin. Pearl, Hester’s baby, was conceived from adultery which meant that she was not pure like the other children in the village. After the reader has taken this quote in the are filled with a sense of melancholy towards the little girl. This passage hints that later in life Pearl will still be known as being the child of an adulterer, and that reputation will never subside, it will be with her the rest of her life. Another passage that uses the rhetorical strategy is, “Nay,” rejoined the young minister, putting his hand to his heart, with a flush of pain flitting over his brow, “were I worthier to walk there, I could be better content to toil here” (Page 126). In the quote where the minister says, “Nay, were I worthier to walk there, I could be better content to toil here.” He is talking about if he knew that he had a very good chance of getting into heaven then he would not succumb to his ailment, and carry on helping people on earth. With the second part of the quote, “...putting his hand on his heart, with a flush of pain flitting over his brow...” it makes this quote another piece of foreshadowing that Hawthorne uses in the book. When the minister puts his hand over his heart and feeling pain at the mention of being pure enough to be given a place in heaven it shows that he knows inside that he is not completely pure. This foreshadows that the minister is keeping a dark secret that “in God’s eyes” makes him not worthy of heaven because he has not confessed his sin, and if he does then he will become an outcast of the village. When reading this quote a reader can feel a sense of forlornness because they can see that the young minister doesn’t believe that he is worthy of Heaven and has a secret that continues to afflict him. The Scarlet Letter is very similar to The Saint by Dan Abnett due to the dark and religious views. Another reason why these two books are similar is because both the authors use foreshadowing throughout the book to give hints to their readers.


I believe that Nathaniel Hawthorne uses foreshadowing throughout the book to hint at what will happen to the characters. In the book, Hawthorne never just comes out and says something, he constantly hints about things and doesn’t beat around the bush. An example of this would be, “Nay,” rejoined the young minister, putting his hand to his heart, with a flush of pain flitting over his brow, “were I worthier to walk there, I could be better content to toil here” (Page 126). In this part, Roger Chillingworth and Reverend Dimmsdale are talking and Chillingworth mentions about the minister will walk with God in the New Jerusalem but Dimmsdale has committed a sin that he has not openly repented. The only thing is, Hawthorne doesn’t just come out and say that, he keeps giving subtle hints as to why Reverend Dimmsdale acts the way he does. One of these subtle hints is when Dimmsdale places his hand over his heart; this hints that he is trying to hide something that should be there, like the scarlet letter that Hester Prynne wears. This is just one of the many foreshadows that Hawthorne uses throughout the book.


Question: Throughout the book, what is Pearl referenced to and why is she described that way?