Unit 3 Adultery, Rhetoric, and a Red Letter AP Language and Composition Mr. Coia

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1 Unit 3 Adultery, Rhetoric, and a Red Letter AP Language and Composition Mr. Coia Name: Date: Period: Mon 10/28 (Tues 10/29) RT 1-40 quiz MLK essay peer reviews Discuss quotation: No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true. The Scarlet Letter, chapter 20 Define adultery HW: chaps 1-6; markings Wed 10/30 (Thurs 10/31) Quiz TSL 1-6 Lecture on Hawthorne Themes: Alienation; Appearance v. Reality; Breaking society s rules; Nature vs town Define: Ignominy and Physiognomy Character Quotations Collect one passage for each of the four main characters Film Clip: Opening scene HW: chapters 7-10; questions End of Quarter One Mon 11/4 (Tues 11/5) Quiz TSL 7-10; RT Quiz 1-45 Bring typed character passages (about 3) Discussion on questions/rhetoric Visual Rhetoric: Analyzing TSL cartoons Using participles to begin sentences HW: chapters 11-15; questions Wed 11/6 (Thurs 11/7) Quiz TSL AP Practice: TSL Passage #1 Watch second scaffold scene Incorporating quotations into writing They Say, I Say p Write one or two paragraphs answering a part of a question from the Questions for Essay and/or Discussion ; use quotations from the text HW: chapters 16-20; questions; Reaction paper (include quotations and three participles as sentence starts put participles in italics) B Day ONLY (Tues 11/12) AP In-class Writing Prompt: Rhetorical Analysis AP MC Practice Wed 11/13 (Thurs 11/14) Quiz TSL 16-20; RT Quiz 1-50 Bring typed character passages (about 7) Reaction Paper due TSL film clip: 4rsw Class discussion/sharing passages Using hyphenated adjectives sheet add one or two to your paper HW: chapters 21-end; questions Friday, 11/15: Parent/Teacher Conferences Mon 11/18 (Tues 11/19) Quiz TSL Bring typed character passages (all 10) Class discussion/sharing passages Watch final scaffold scene Watch an alternate ending to the book Describe Character Recipe assignment Writing time HW: Type Character Recipe Wed 11/20 (Thurs 11/21) RT Quiz 1-55 AP Practice: TSL Passage #2 Share Character Recipes Listen/read: Hester Prynne: Sinner, Victim, Object, Winner [ php?storyid= ] HW: Study for test; Wordle.net overview of all of your character quotations Fri 11/22 (Mon 11/25) Review of the novel Wordle sharing Important quotations Discussion: What is one of Hawthorne s messages in The Scarlet Letter, and how does he argue it? HW: Study for test Tues 11/26 (Wed 11/27) No RT quiz this week The Scarlet Letter novel test AP Rhetorical Analysis Essay Novel turn-in [no book=no test] Thanksgiving Break 1

2 Assignments Wordle.Net After collecting 8-10 passages for your assigned character, type and input all the passages into to see a graphic representation of the words. Play around with color and font options until you find one that best exemplifies your character. Print in color and bring to class. Note: You cannot save Wordles in the typical way. You can perform a Snag-It or screenshot and save to jpg. Notebook Check You ll need the following for our third notebook check. Be ready anytime at the start of the unit. LA Handouts: Unit guide 3 (on top) Unit guide 2 AP Rhetorical Terms packet SOAPS handout (unit guide 1 p. 5) Essay Graphic Organizer for Rhetorical Analysis (unit guide 2 p. 13) Syntax Overview (unit guide 2, p. 9-12) Letter from Birmingham Jail marked essay Good Country People marked story Sedaris and Alexie readings How Do I Format My Paper? (unit guide 1 p. 3) AP Course Overview (unit guide 1 p. 4) Initialed Class Rules LA Classwork: Notes from lectures, presentations, mini-lessons. Remember you should be taking notes each class period. You will also have at least 25 sheets of loose-leaf paper in your binder, and your pens, pencils, highlighter, etc. 2

3 Chapter Questions 10 questions are required for each section of reading. You need to answer at least one question per chapter. Please include the full question and chapter, skip a line, then answer in complete and mature sentences. These are online for your convenience. I prefer typed work on this, but, if you have excellent handwriting, you may write Chapter 1 1. What is the setting of The Scarlet Letter? 2. Why does Hawthorne begin the story with a reflection about the need for a cemetery and a prison? 3. What is the significance of the wild rosebush that grows beside the prison door? 4. Who was Ann Hutchinson? 5. What does Hawthorne achieve by his reference to the sainted Ann Hutchinson? Chapter 2 1. On what note does this chapter begin? 2. What is Hawthorne saying about the Puritan women of the New World? 3. For what sin is Hester Prynne condemned? 4. What is the Old Testament punishment for adultery? 5. What is the public view of Hester s sin as expressed by the women outside the prison? What do their comments suggest about this society? 6. What is Hester s punishment? 7. What is surprising about the A Hester has sewn for herself? What might this indicate? 8. What is accomplished by Hawthorne s allusion to the Madonna and Child? 9. Considering the common use of physiognomy in pre-twentieth-century literature, what might Hawthorne be suggesting by portraying Hester as extremely beautiful? 10. What does the flashback reveal about Hester s past? Chapter 3 1. What purpose does the conversation between the townsman and the stranger at the beginning of this chapter serve? 2. Why wasn t Hester sentenced to death for her adultery? 3. Where has the stranger been? What motion does he make to Hester? 4. Who is Dimmesdale? What appeal does he use to convince Hester to reveal the baby s father? 5. What is Hawthorne foreshadowing with the stranger s prediction that the name of the father will eventually be disclosed? 6. What is ironic about Dimmesdale s reaction to Hester s refusal to name the father of her child? 7. Explain the allusion in the townsman s telling Chillingworth, that matter remaineth a riddle; and the Daniel who shall expound it is yet a-wanting. Chapter 4 1. Who does the stranger Hester recognized in the crowd that afternoon turn out to be? 2. Why does Hester fear Chillingworth? 3. Again, given the use of physiognomy in literature, what is Hawthorne suggesting by Chillingworth s aged, deformed appearance? 4. Explain Chillingworth s attitude toward Hester. 5. What does Chillingworth intend to do and why? 6. What does Chillingworth ask Hester to promise? Why does she agree? 7. What is foreshadowed by Chillingworth and Hester s exchange at the end of thechapter? Chapter 5 1. How is Hester s emergence from the prison at the end of her confinement different from her emergence on the day she stood in public humiliation? 2. What traditional dichotomy does Hawthorne begin to establish with the location of Hester s cottage? 3. Give two reasons why Hester decides to remain instead of moving to a less-restrictive colony. 4. How do the townspeople treat Hester, and how does she react? 5. How does Hester s character evolve? 6. Describe the difference between Hester s clothing and her child s. 7. What point is Hawthorne making about an individual s ability to separate oneself from one s wrongdoings? 8. Where do Hawthorne s sympathies lie? How do you know? 3

4 Chapter 6 1. What, according to the narrator, is ironic about Pearl s existence? 2. What is the significance of Pearl s name? 3. What is significant about Pearl s temperament? 4. Explain the ambiguity concerning Pearl s background. 5. Hester believes that, while society punishes her for sinning, God has a different reaction. How does Hester explain Pearl s existence? Chapter 7 1. How sincerely concerned are the townspeople of Salem for the souls of Hester and Pearl? 2. Compare the Governor s garden with gardens in Old England. What is significant about the difference? 3. How is Pearl dressed, and what is her dress compared to? 4. Where else have we seen a rose bush in this novel? 5. What was its significance then? 6. Does it maintain the same significance here? Chapter 8 1. Explain the Puritan attitude toward luxury and how Governor Bellingham and the Reverend John Wilson responded to it. 2. How do the magistrates react to Pearl and why? 3. How does Hester behave towards the magistrates and why? 4. Why does Hester feel that Arthur Dimmesdale should speak on her behalf? 5. Why would Hawthorne have Pearl perform such an uncharacteristically tender action? 6. What does Chillingworth note about Dimmesdale s defense of Hester? 7. Describe how Dimmesdale has changed since Hester s public punishment. 8. Describe how Chillingworth has changed over the last few years. 9. What would physiognomy suggest about Dimmesdale and Chillingworth? 10. Why would Hawthorne want to include Mistress Hibbins as a minor character in this book? Chapter 9 1. Why doesn t Chillingworth assert his rights as Hester s husband? 2. A difference of opinion arises over the cause of Dimmesdale s failing health. Compare the townspeople s opinion to Dimmesdale s. 3. Why does Dimmesdale reject Chillingworth s offer of help? What finally persuades him to accept the offer? 4. Explain the ambiguity of the chapter s title, The Leech. 5. The passage sets up an interesting contrast between two types of men. What is this contrast, and how is it likely to shape the future of the novel? 6. Describe Chillingworth s method for treating illness. 7. Describe the relationship between Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. 8. Some people in the community feel that God has sent Chillingworth to heal their minister, but other people have a different view. Explain the second view about Chillingworth. 9. How do the people explain the gloom and terror in the depths of the poor minister s eyes? 10. What is suggested by the names Chillingworth and Dimmesdale? Chapter What is suspicious about Dimmesdale s position in his debate with Chillingworth about sin? 2. How do the black flowers initiate a discussion on hidden sins? 3. How does Dimmesdale s rationale for not confessing a hidden sin support the doctrine of salvation by works rather than salvation by faith? 4. What metaphors does Hawthorne establish for Chillingworth s probe? How do they further define Chillingworth s character? 5. What does Chillingworth mean when he mutters, A strange sympathy betwixt soul and body! Were it only for the art s sake, I must search this matter to the bottom!? 6. What does Chillingworth do while Dimmesdale sleeps, and what does his action symbolize? Describe Chillingworth s reaction and what his response reveals about his character. 7. What do you suppose is the specific secret that Chillingworth discovers? Chapter Explain the statement, He [Chillingworth] became, thenceforth, not a spectator only, but a chief actor, in the poor minister s interior world. 2. What is ironic about Dimmesdale s incredible success as a minister? 4

5 3. Why are Dimmesdale s public assertions of guilt ironic? 4. Explain the ways that Dimmesdale tortures himself. 5. Comparing Dimmesdale s current struggle with his sin with Hawthorne s earlier treatment of Hester and her sin, what is Hawthorne suggesting about the effects of sin? 6. What is ironic about Hawthorne s portrayal of the Puritan society, in terms of this developing theme? Chapter How is the episode of Dimmesdale s midnight vigil on the scaffold structurally significant? 2. What is the significance of Pearl s challenge to Dimmesdale? 3. Considering the role of Nature in Anti-Transcendental literature, what is the significance of the meteor event? 4. Although Governor Winthrop is merely mentioned in the book, why would Hawthorne choose this night as the night Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold with Hester and Pearl? 5. How does Dimmesdale feel as he holds Pearl s hand and why? 6. Why does Pearl pull away from Dimmesdale? 7. What effect does Dimmesdale s vigil have on his career? Chapter What is significant about Hester s position in the community now that years have passed? 2. Compare the feelings of the general public to those of the community leaders regarding Hester Prynne. Explain why the groups view her differently. 3. What social and philosophical changes is Hawthorne describing in this chapter? 4. Explain the statement: It is remarkable, that persons who speculate the most boldly often conform with the most perfect quietude to the external regulations of society. The thought suffices them. 5. Compare the initial intent behind the scarlet letter to the actual effect on Hester. 6. What does Hester resolve to do and why? 7. What is Hawthorne s point comparing Hester s and Dimmesdale s reactions to their sin? 8. What image is Hawthorne evoking with Chillingworth, old, one shoulder higher than the other, digging up roots and collecting leaves, etc. in the forest? Chapter Notice that Chillingworth is called a leech in the chapters in which he interacts with Dimmesdale, but a physician in this interaction with Hester. Considering the definition of leech, what do you suppose is Hawthorne s point in using these two designations? 2. What is Hester s response to the announcement that the Council had debated allowing her to remove her scarlet letter? 3. Look again at what you found out about the Anti-Transcendentalists. Why isn t forgiveness an option? 4. How is the doctrine of predestination reflected in this conversation between Hester and Chillingworth? 5. Why does Chillingworth believe he has a double reason for punishing Dimmesdale? 6. Compare Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth in terms of their responses to the initial sin. 7. What pleas of Hester s arouse sympathy and admiration in Chillingworth? 8. What does Hester ask of Chillingworth? What is his response? Chapter What is Hester coming to realize is the true sin she has committed? Why would Hawthorne consider this a worse sin than her sin with Dimmesdale? 2. What does Hester realize about her repentance? 3. Why does Hester hate Chillingworth? 4. Hester refuses to answer Pearl s question about the meaning of the A. Why does Hester not confide in Pearl? 5. Why does Hawthorne portray Pearl as such a wild child? 6. How have Hester s conversations with Chillingworth and Pearl changed her attitude toward herself and her sin? Chapter Explain the significance of the sunlight imagery. 2. When Hester determines to warn Dimmesdale about Chillingworth, why does the meeting take place in the forest? 3. Explain the probable allusion in the line the minister and she would need the whole wide world to breathe in. 4. What positive significance does the forest begin to take on? 5. What negative significance does the forest begin to assume? 6. In what way does Hester acknowledge her sin to Pearl? Chapter How is Hawthorne advancing his theme of the difference between revealed and secret sin? 2. Explain the distinction Dimmesdale makes between penance and penitence. 5

6 3. What do we learn is the emotional connection between Hester and Dimmesdale? Why is this significant to the developing theme of the book? 4. Do you believe Hester is to blame for Dimmesdale s suffering during the past seven years? Why or why not? 5. What theme about the nature of sin finally begins to emerge in Hester and Dimmesdale s conversation? 6. Here is a key question for Hawthorne and the Anti-Transcendentalists: can a polluted soul do good for others? 7. Who are the heartless people with laws of iron to whom Hester refers? 8. This chapter ends on an optimistic note. What is the source of the optimism? Chapter What contrast does the narrator point out between Hester and Dimmesdale s ability to leave town? 2. Why does Dimmesdale decide to flee with Hester? 3. What is significant about the title of this chapter? 4. How does Hawthorne reinforce his idea that nature is sympathetic with the union of Hester and Dimmesdale? 5. Why would children dislike Dimmesdale? Chapter Beyond Hester s explanation, why won t Pearl come to Hester without the scarlet letter? 2. What is significant about the fact that Pearl will not bring her the scarlet letter, but makes her pick it up for herself? 3. Why won t Pearl show any affection to Dimmesdale? Why does she want him to walk with them hand-in-hand in the marketplace? 4. This chapter begins on the same optimistic note that ends the previous chapter. On what kind of note does the chapter end? Why? Chapter What would account for Dimmesdale s sudden change? 2. In terms of Hawthorne s theme contrasting hidden sin versus revealed sin, how can you explain Dimmesdale s change in this chapter? 3. Why is the chapter called The Minister in a Maze? Chapter Compare these first-generation New Englanders with their recent English ancestors and with their future New England descendents. 2. What distressing news does Hester receive from the ship captain? 3. In addition to providing more information, what other purpose does this chapter serve? Chapter What is Hawthorne s point about the governors ability to govern? Does he seem to find fault with them? Why or why not? 2. What is the source of Dimmesdale s apparent new strength? 3. What does Pearl want from Dimmesdale? 4. Explain the remarks, The sainted minister in the church! The woman of the scarlet letter in the market-place! 5. What is Mistress Hibbins saying about the people of Salem Village? 6. What clues has Hawthorne offered his reader to prepare him or her for the revelation of the scarlet letter on his chest? Chapter Many critics believe the novel is structured around the three scaffold scenes: the ones in Chapters 2 and 12, and this one. Explain how each fits into the typical plot scheme of conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, and conclusion. 2. Why does Dimmesdale stand on the very proudest eminence of superiority before the crowd? 3. What does Chillingworth mean when he says, There was no one place where thou couldst have escaped me save on this very scaffold! 4. In what way is Dimmesdale s sin worse than Hester s? Of Hester, Chillingworth, and Dimmesdale, whose sin is the worst? Why? 5. What accounts for the change in Pearl? Chapter What theories are given about the scarlet letter imprinted in the minister s flesh? 2. Why does Hawthorne leave the origin of Dimmesdale s mark ambiguous? 3. What happens to Chillingworth? What does he give Pearl? 4. What becomes of Pearl? 5. Why do you suppose Hester returns to Salem? What might be Hawthorne s point about sin, repentance, and redemption? 6. Why would Hawthorne allow the story to end with Hester and Dimmesdale being remembered so ignominiously? 6

7 The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne:Summary provided by CliffNotes.com Chapter 1 - The Prison-Door In this first chapter, Hawthorne sets the scene of the novel Boston of the seventeenth century. It is June, and a throng of drably dressed Puritans stands before a weather-beaten wooden prison. In front of the prison stands an unsightly plot of weeds and beside it grows a wild rosebush, which seems out of place in this scene dominated by dark colors. Chapter 2 The Market Place The Puritan women waiting outside the prison self-righteously and viciously discuss Hester Prynne and her sin. Hester, proud and beautiful, emerges from the prison. She wears an elaborately embroidered scarlet letter A standing for "adultery" on her breast, and she carries a three-month-old infant in her arms. Hester is led through the unsympathetic crowd to the scaffold of the pillory. Standing alone on the scaffold as punishment for her adulterous behavior, she remembers her past life in England and on the European continent. Suddenly becoming aware of the stern faces looking up at her, Hester painfully realizes her present position of shame and punishment. Chapter 3 The Recognition Hester recognizes a small, rather deformed man standing on the outskirts of the crowd and clutches Pearl fiercely to her bosom. Meanwhile, the man, a stranger to Boston, recognizes Hester and is horror-struck. Inquiring, the man learns of Hester's history, her crime (adultery), and her sentence: to stand on the scaffold for three hours and to wear the symbolic letter A for the rest of her life. The stranger also learns that Hester refuses to name the man with whom she had the sexual affair. This knowledge greatly upsets him, and he vows that Hester's unnamed partner "will be known! he will be known! he will be known!" The Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale, visibly upset, pleads with Hester to name her accomplice. He tells her that she should name her partner in sin because perhaps the man doesn't have the courage to step forward even if he wants to. Yet despite Dimmesdale's passionate appeal, followed by harsher demands from the Reverend Mr. Wilson and from a stern voice in the crowd (presumably that of the deformed stranger), Hester steadfastly refuses to name the father of her child. After a long and tedious sermon by the Reverend Mr. Wilson, during which Hester tries ineffectively to quiet Pearl's crying, she is led back to prison. Chapter 4 The Interview Back in her prison cell, Hester is in a state of nervous frenzy, and Pearl writhes in painful convulsions. That evening, when Roger Chillingworth enters Hester's prison cell, she fears his intentions, but he gives Pearl a draught of medicine that eases the child's pain almost immediately, and she falls asleep. After he persuades Hester to drink a sedative to calm her frayed nerves, the two sit and talk intimately and sympathetically, each of them accepting a measure of blame for Hester's adulterous affair. Chillingworth, the injured husband, seeks no revenge against Hester, but he is determined to discover the father of Pearl. Although this unidentified man doesn't wear a scarlet A on his clothes as Hester does, Chillingworth vows that he will "read it on his heart." He then makes Hester promise not to reveal his identity. Hester takes an oath to keep Chillingworth's identity a secret, although she expresses the fear that her vow of silence may prove the ruin of her soul. Chapter 5 Hester at Her Needle Her term of imprisonment over, Hester is now free to go anywhere in the world, yet she does not leave Boston; instead, she chooses to move into a small, seaside cottage on the outskirts of town. She supports herself and Pearl through her skill as a seamstress. Her work is in great demand for clothing worn at official ceremonies and among the fashionable women of the town for every occasion except a wedding. Despite the popularity of her sewing, however, Hester is a social outcast. The target of vicious abuse by the community, she endures the abuse patiently. Ironically, she begins to believe that the scarlet A allows her to sense sinful and immoral feelings in other people. Chapter 6 Pearl During her first three years, Pearl, who is so named because she came "of great price," grows into a physically beautiful, vigorous, and graceful little girl. She is radiant in the rich and elaborate dresses that Hester sews for her. Inwardly, however, Pearl possesses a complex character. She shows an unusual depth of mind, coupled with a fiery passion that Hester is incapable of controlling either with kindness or threats. Pearl shows a love of mischief and a disrespect for authority, which frequently reminds Hester of her own sin of passion. Because both Hester and Pearl are excluded from society, they are constant companions. When Pearl is on walks with her mother, she occasionally finds herself surrounded by the curious children of the village. Rather than attempt to make friends with them, she pelts them with stones and violent words. Pearl's only companion in her playtime is her imagination. Significantly, in her games of make-believe, she never creates friends; she creates only enemies Puritans whom she pretends to destroy. But the object that most captures her imagination is the scarlet letter A on her mother's clothing. Hester worries that Pearl is possessed by a fiend, an impression strengthened when Pearl denies having a Heavenly Father and then laughingly demands that Hester tell her where she came from. Chapter 7 The Governor s Hall Hester has heard that certain influential citizens feel Pearl should be taken from her. Alarmed, Hester sets out with Pearl for Governor Bellingham's mansion to deliver gloves that he ordered. More important, however, Hester plans to plead for the right to keep her daughter. Pearl has been especially dressed for the occasion in an elaborate scarlet dress, embroidered with gold thread. On the way to the governor's mansion, Hester and Pearl are accosted by a group of Puritan children. When they taunt Pearl, she shows a temper as fiery as her appearance, driving the children off with her screams and threats. Reaching the Governor's large, elaborate, stucco frame dwelling, Hester and Pearl are admitted by a bondsman. Inside a heavy oak hall, Hester and Pearl stand before Governor Bellingham's suit of armor. In its curved, polished breastplate, both Hester's scarlet A and Pearl are distorted. Meanwhile, as Hester contemplates her daughter's changed image, a small group of men approaches. Pearl becomes quiet out of curiosity about the men who are coming down the path. Chapter 8 The Elf-Child and the Minister The group of men approaching Hester and Pearl include Governor Bellingham, the Reverend John Wilson, the Reverend Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth, who, since the story's opening, has been living in Boston as Dimmesdale's friend and personal physician. The governor, shocked at Pearl's vain and immodest costume, challenges Hester's fitness to raise the child in a Christian way. He asks Reverend Mr. Wilson to test Pearl's knowledge of the catechism. Pearl deliberately pretends ignorance. In answer to the very first question "Who made thee?" Pearl replies that she was not made, but that she was "plucked... off the bush of wild roses that grew by the prison door." Horrified, the governor and Mr. Wilson are immediately ready to take Pearl away from Hester, who protests that God gave Pearl to her and that she will not give her up. Pearl is both her happiness and her torture, and she will die before she relinquishes her. She appeals to Dimmesdale to speak for her. Dimmesdale persuades Governor Bellingham and Mr. Wilson that Hester should be allowed to keep Pearl, whom God has given to her as both a blessing and a reminder of her sin, causing Chillingworth to remark, "You speak, my friend, with a strange earnestness." Pearl, momentarily solemn, caresses Dimmesdale's hand and receives from the minister a furtive kiss on the head. Leaving the mansion, Hester is approached by Mistress Hibbins, Governor Bellingham's sister. Hester refuses the woman's invitation to a midnight meeting of witches in the forest, saying she must take Pearl home, but she adds that, if she had lost Pearl, she would willingly have signed on with the devil. Chapter 9 The Leech Since first appearing in the community, Chillingworth has been well received by the townspeople, not only because they can use his services as a physician, but also because of his special interest in their ailing clergyman, Arthur Dimmesdale. In fact, some of the Puritans even view it as a special act of Providence that a man of Chillingworth's knowledge should have been "dropped," as it were, into their community just when their beloved young minister's health seemed to be failing. And, although Dimmesdale protests that he needs no medicine and is prepared to die if it is the will of God, he agrees to put his health in Chillingworth's hands. The two men begin spending much time together and, finally, at Chillingworth's 7

8 suggestion, they move into the same house, where, although they have separate apartments, they can move back and forth freely. Gradually, some of the townspeople, without any real evidence except for the growing appearance of evil in Chillingworth's face, begin to develop suspicions about the doctor. Rumors about his past and suggestions that he practices "the black art" with fire brought from hell gain some acceptance. Many of the townspeople also believe that, rather than being in the care of a Christian physician, Arthur Dimmesdale is in the hands of Satan or one of his agents who has been given God's permission to struggle with the minister's soul for a time. Despite the look of gloom and terror in Dimmesdale's eyes, all of them have faith that Dimmesdale's strength is certain to bring him victory over his tormentor. Chapter 10 The Leech and His Patient In this and the next few chapters, Chillingworth investigates the identity of Pearl's father for the sole purpose of taking revenge. Adopting the attitude of a judge seeking truth and justice, he quickly becomes fiercely obsessed by his search into Dimmesdale's heart. He is frequently discouraged in his attempts to pry loose Dimmesdale's secret, but he always returns to his "digging" with all his intelligence and passion. Most of Chapter 10 concerns the pulling and tugging by Chillingworth at the heart and soul of Dimmesdale. One day in Chillingworth's study, they are interrupted in their earnest discussion by Pearl and Hester's voices outside in the graveyard. They comment on Pearl's strange behavior and then return to their discussion. Watching Hester and Pearl depart, Dimmesdale agrees with Chillingworth that Hester is better off with her sin publicly displayed than she would be with it concealed. When Chillingworth renews his probing of Dimmesdale's conscience, suggesting that he can never cure Dimmesdale as long as the minister conceals anything, the minister says that his sickness is a "sickness of the soul" and passionately cries out that he will not reveal his secret to "an earthly physician." Dimmesdale rushes from the room and Chillingworth smiles at his success. One day, not long afterward, Chillingworth finds Dimmesdale asleep in a chair. Pulling aside the minister's vestment, he stares at the clergyman's chest. What he sees there causes "a wild look of wonder, joy, and horror," and he does a spontaneous dance of ecstasy. Chapter 11 The Interior of a Heart Feeling that he is in full possession of Dimmesdale's secret, Chillingworth begins his unrelenting torture of the minister, subtly tormenting him with comments designed to trigger fear and agony. Dimmesdale does not realize Chillingworth's motives, but he nonetheless comes to fear and abhor him. As Dimmesdale's suffering becomes more painful and his body grows weaker, his popularity among the congregation grows stronger. Such mistaken adoration, however, further tortures Dimmesdale and brings him often to the point of making a public confession that he is Pearl's father. The minister's sermons are eloquent, but his vague assertions of his own sinful nature are taken by his parishioners as further evidence of his holiness. Because Dimmesdale is incapable of confessing that he was Hester's lover and that he is Pearl's father the one act necessary to his salvation he substitutes self-punishment. He beats himself with a bloody whip and keeps frequent all-night vigils during which his mind is plagued by frightening visions. On one such night while he is seeking peace, Dimmesdale dresses carefully in his clerical clothes and leaves the house. Chapter 12 The Minister s Vigil After leaving the house, Dimmesdale walks to the scaffold where, seven years earlier, Hester Prynne stood, wearing her sign of shame and holding Pearl. Now, in the damp, cool air of the cloudy May night, Dimmesdale mounts the steps while the town sleeps. Realizing the mockery of his being able to stand there now, safe and unseen, where he should have stood seven years ago before the townspeople, Dimmesdale is overcome by a self-hatred so terrible that it causes him to cry aloud into the night. Hester and Pearl, who are returning from Governor Winthrop's deathbed, mount the scaffold, and the three of them stand hand-in-hand, Hester and Dimmesdale linked by Pearl. Twice, Pearl asks Dimmesdale if he will stand there with them at noon the next day; the minister says he will stand there with them on "the great judgment day." As he speaks, a strange light in the sky illuminates the scaffold and its surroundings. Looking up, Dimmesdale seems to see in the sky a dull red light in the shape of an immense letter A. At the same instant, Dimmesdale is aware that Pearl is pointing toward Roger Chillingworth who stands nearby, grimly smiling up at the three people on the scaffold. Overcome with terror, Dimmesdale asks Hester about the true identity of Chillingworth. Remembering her promise to Chillingworth, Hester remains silent. After the next morning's sermon, the sexton startles the minister by returning one of his gloves, which was found on the scaffold. ("Satan dropped it there, I take it, intending a scurrilous jest against your reverence.") The sexton also asks about the great red letter A that appeared in the sky the past night. Chapter 13 Another View of Hester Following her conversation with Dimmesdale on the scaffold, Hester is shocked by the changes in him. While he seems to have retained his intelligence, his nerve is gone. He is morally weak, and she can only conclude that "a terrible machinery had been brought to bear, and was still operating on Mr. Dimmesdale's well-being and repose." Hester decides she has an obligation to help this man. Four years have gone by, and Hester's position in the community has changed: She has been given credit for bearing her shame with courage, and her life has been one of purity since Pearl's birth. While Dimmesdale's sermons have become more humane and praised because of his suffering, Hester's position has risen because of her charity. Her scarlet A now stands for "Able." But this has come with a price: no friends, no passion, no love or affection. Through adversity, Hester has forged a new place for herself on the edge of Puritan society. In contrast, Dimmesdale's mental balance has suffered greatly. Now she must help the man who seems to be on "the verge of lunacy." In fact, she feels it has been an error on her part not to step forward before. So she resolves to speak with her husband. Chapter 14 Hester and the Physician While walking on the peninsula with Pearl, Hester sees Chillingworth and sends Pearl down to play by the seashore while she speaks with her husband. She is surprised at the changes in Chillingworth just as she was shocked by Dimmesdale's spiritual ailment and aging. Realizing Chillingworth is in the grip of the devil, she feels responsible for "another ruin." According to Hester, her promise has caused Chillingworth to do evil to the minister, but Chillingworth denies his role at first. Then he admits that, although he used to be kind, gentle, and affectionate, he now allows evil to use him. The physician believes it his fate to become a fiend. He releases Hester from her promise of silence. Chapter 15 Hester and Pearl As Chillingworth leaves, Hester recognizes how evil he has become and realizes she hates him. Meanwhile, Pearl has entertained herself quite well: she played with her image in a pool, made boats of birch bark, and threw pebbles at beach-birds. Finally, she uses seaweed to make a scarf and then decorates her bosom with a green letter A. Pearl wants to know what the scarlet letter means. Hester is tempted to tell her because she has no one else in whom she can confide. But despite repeated questions by Pearl, Hester says she wears the letter for "the sake of the gold thread" the first time she had "been false to the symbol on her bosom." Pearl is not satisfied and continues to question Hester until Hester threatens to shut Pearl in a dark closet. Chapter 16 A Forest Walk For several days Hester tries unsuccessfully to intercept Dimmesdale on one of his frequent walks along the shore or through the woods. When she hears that he will be returning from a trip, she goes with Pearl into the forest, hoping to meet the minister on his return home. As she and Pearl walk along the narrow path through the dense woods, flickering gleams of sunshine break through the heavy gray clouds above them. Pearl suggests the sunshine is running away from Hester because of the A on her bosom. In contrast, Pearl, being a child without any such letter runs and "catches" a patch of light; then, as Hester approaches, the sunshine disappears. Pearl asks Hester to tell her about the Black Man. She has heard stories about him and questions Hester about her dealings with him and whether the scarlet letter is his mark. Under Pearl's questioning, Hester confesses, "Once in my life I met the Black Man!... This scarlet letter is his mark!" Having reached the depths of the forest, Hester and Pearl sit on a heap of moss beside a brook. Just then footsteps are heard on the path, and Hester sends Pearl away, but not before the girl asks whether it is the Black Man approaching and whether Dimmesdale holds his hand over his heart to cover the Black Man's sign. Before Hester can answer, Dimmesdale comes upon them. The minister looks haggard and feeble and moves listlessly as though he has no purpose or desire to live. He holds his hand over his heart. 8

9 Name: Date: Hyphenated Adjectives (compound adjectives) 1. The home school movement continues to grow in America. 2. Fred s ninety dollar jacket is under the bleachers. 3. The three month baby sat near the door. 4. Kramer applied for a small business loan. 5. Hanna s long term plan is to finish college. 6. Her better late than never attitude annoyed us. 7. The DMZ is a two hour trip. 8. Her bird like nose was the focus point of discussion. 9. Our compound adjective lesson flew past the students. 10. Does America portray a hands off attitude in some countries while maintaining an in your face posture in others? Try your own:

10 The Scarlet Letter QUESTIONS FOR ESSAY AND/OR DISCUSSION Reaction Paper: Pick one of these topics to write a 500-word response. Use a minimum of two quotations (not counted in word count), and underline one example of a hyphenated adjective and a sentence beginning with a participle. 1. Identify the sin of Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth, and trace the consequences of that sin on the person s life and character. 2. Identify and explain at least three ways in which Hawthorne is part of the Romantic tradition and at least two ways in which he repudiates that tradition. 3. Name three characteristics of Hawthorne s style and cite examples of each. 4. Identify and explain the symbolism for two of the following items: a. light and shadow e. colors b. the scaffold f. the forest c. the rosebush and the weeds g. the town d. the letter A 5. According to Hawthorne, what are the moral consequences of sin and how does one become redeemed? Cite incidents from the story. 6. Hawthorne uses historical characters Governor Bellingham, John Wilson, and Mistress Hibbins and true depictions of Puritan society and beliefs to add authenticity to his work. Explain the effects that these elements make. 7. Compare Hester s scarlet letter to Dimmesdale s letter. 8. Describe Hawthorne s use of dramatic irony, and cite examples for support. Quotations from Nathaniel Hawthorne In our nature, however, there is a provision, alike marvelous and merciful, that the sufferer should never know the intensity of what he endures by its present torture, but chiefly by the pang that rankles after it. (p. 62) When an uninstructed multitude attempts to see with its eyes, it is exceedingly apt to be deceived. When, however it forms its judgment, as it usually does, on the intuitions of its great and warm heart, the conclusions thus attained are often profound and so unerring, as to possess the character of truths supernaturally revealed. (p. 125) Trusting no man as his friend, he could not recognize his enemy when the latter actually appeared. (p. 128) To the untrue man, the whole universe is false. (p. 142) It is remarkable that persons who speculate the most boldly often conform with the most perfect quietude to the external regulations of society. (p. 159) No man for any considerable period can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true. (p. 203) It is a curious subject of observation and inquiry, whether hatred and love be not the same thing at bottom. (p. 242) Irony in The Scarlet Letter 1. Roger Chillingworth is punished more than Hester. (p. 138) 2. Pearl is dressed as a lady of great wealth, and she eventually becomes a lady of great wealth. (p. 103) 3. Even though Hester could have left Boston, she chooses to remain in the town where she committed and was punished for her sin. (p. 83) 4. Pearl s name implies purity and serenity. (p. 91) 5. The scarlet letter gains Hester respect in the community. (pp , 190) 6. Dimmesdale was deceived by Chillingworth because Trusting no man as his friend, he could not recognize his enemy when the latter actually appeared. (p. 128) 10

11 The Scarlet Letter Character Recipe Mr. Coia Objective: You will demonstrate your understanding of a character by creating them in a recipe form. Imagine that you were to cook up that character. I m asking you to record what comprises that person. Preparation Tips: Prewriting 1. Select a character from The Scarlet Letter 2. List character traits and descriptions as they appear in the novel, short story, biography, etc. 3. Determine and list events or forces that they believe helped shape the character. 4. Look at a few recipes from magazines to see how they are written. Writing Create a recipe that the author might have used to develop the character they have selected. Baste themselves in creative juices every so often. You ll need at least 10 ingredients, and the directions should be somehow connected to the character. Revising Stir. Add ingredients. Check to make sure preparation instructions are clear and in logical order. Proofreading Check spelling, abbreviations for measurements, and that preparation instructions are delivered using imperative sentences (if you don t know what one is, find out!). 11

12 Here s an example: Beverly Lewis 10/18/2010 Character Recipe LA 11 Mr. Coia 173 words Reverend Hale s Puritan Turnovers Ingredients: 3 cups Religious Fervor (Puritan flavor) 1 cup Fear of Authorities 1 bunch Books Weighted with Authority 3 heaping tablespoons Pride 2 cups Faulty Logic 3 drops Yellow food coloring pinch of Truth 1 pint Compassion sprinkle Guilt 1 piece Rope Directions: Start with Religious Fervor and Books Weighted with Authorities. Knead until thoroughly mixed. Slowly fold in Faulty Logic, one chunk at a time. Sprinkle Pride over mixture and blend until thoroughly combined. Place in a hot Salem kettle. When mixture is in the heat, the backbone will be exposed. Carefully remove and discard. Add Yellow food coloring. During cooking, mixture will slowly turn colors. Carefully add Truth. The yellow color will fade, giving way to a vibrant color. The Pride in the mixture will shrink, giving way to a healthier formation. Add Compassion. The Turnovers will remove themselves from the heat. Serve on a plain dish, garnished with a portion of Rope. Preparation Time: Three months Serves: Two people: Elizabeth and John Proctor. Perhaps not quite enough for either. 12

13 The Scarlet Letter Character Passages You will be assigned one of the characters in which to collect 8-10 passages. These passages should be passages, not mere phrases or sentences. These should be powerhouse passages that give us insight into the character in light of the novel as a whole. Your Group: Hester Pearl Arthur Roger the A townspeople Other students in your same group: See examples: Hester The young woman was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance, on a large scale. She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam, and a face which, besides being beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion, had the impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes. She was lady-like, too, after the manner of the feminine gentility of those days; characterized by a certain state and dignity, rather than by the delicate, evanescent, and indescribable grace, which is now recognized as its indication. And never had Hester Prynne appeared more ladylike, in the antique interpretation of the term, than as she issued from the prison (55). Hester Prynne, therefore, did not flee. On the outskirts of the town, within the verge of the peninsula, but not in close vicinity to any other habitation, there was a small thatched cottage. It had been built by an earlier settler, and abandoned, because the soil about it was too sterile for cultivation, while its comparative remoteness put it out of the sphere of that social activity which already marked the habits of the emigrants. It stood on the shore, looking across a basin of the sea at the forest-covered hills, towards the west. A clump of scrubby trees, such as alone grew on the peninsula, did not so much conceal the cottage from view, as seem to denote that here was some object which would fain have been, or at least ought to be, concealed. In this little, lonesome dwelling, with some slender means that she possessed, and by the license of the magistrates, who still kept an inquisitorial watch over her, Hester established herself, with her infant child (84). Arthur Dimmesdale The directness of this appeal drew the eyes of the whole crowd upon the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale; young clergyman, who had come from one of the great English universities, bringing all the learning of the age into our wild forest-land. His eloquence and religious fervor had already given the earnest of high eminence in his profession. He was a person of very striking aspect, with a white, lofty, and impending brow, large, brown, melancholy eyes, and a mouth which, unless when he forcibly compressed it, was apt to be tremulous, expressing both nervous sensibility and a vast power of self-restraint. Notwithstanding his high native gifts and scholar-like attainments, there was an air about this young minister, an apprehensive, a startled, a half-frightened look, as of a being who felt himself quite astray and at a loss in the pathway of human existence, and could only be at ease in some seclusion of his own. Therefore, so far as his duties would permit, he trode in the shadowy bypaths, and thus kept himself simple and childlike; coming forth, when occasion was, with a freshness, and fragrance, and dewy purity of thought, which, as many people said, affected them like the speech of an angel (68-69). At this wild and singular appeal, which indicated that Hester Prynne s situation had provoked her to little less than madness, the young minister at once came forward, pale, and holding his hand over his heart, as was his custom whenever his peculiarly nervous temperament was thrown into agitation. He looked now more careworn and emaciated than as we described him at the scene of Hester s public ignominy; and whether it were his failing health, or whatever the cause might be, his large dark eyes had a world of pain in their troubled and melancholy depth (117). 13

14 Pearl WE have as yet hardly spoken of the infant; that little creature, whose innocent life had sprung, by the inscrutable decree of Providence, a lovely and immortal flower, out of the rank luxuriance of a guilty passion. How strange it seemed to the sad woman, as she watched the growth, and the beauty that became every day more brilliant, and the intelligence that threw its quivering sunshine over the tiny features of this child! Her Pearl! For so had Hester called her; not as a name expressive of her aspect, which had nothing of the calm, white, unimpassioned lustre that would be indicated by the comparison. But she named the infant Pearl, as being of great price, purchased with all she had, her mother s only treasure! How strange, indeed! Man had marked this woman s sin by a scarlet letter, which had such potent and disastrous efficacy that no human sympathy could reach her, save it were sinful like herself. God, as a direct consequence of the sin which man thus punished, had given her a lovely child, whose place was on that same dishonored bosom, to connect her parent for ever with the race and descent of mortals, and to be finally a blessed soul in heaven! Yet these thoughts affected Hester Prynne less with hope than apprehension. She knew that her deed had been evil; she could have no faith, therefore, that its result would be for good. Day after day, she looked fearfully into the child s expanding nature; ever dreading to detect some dark and wild peculiarity, that should correspond with the guiltiness to which she owed her being (92-93). Roger Chillingworth He was small in stature, with a furrowed visage, which, as yet, could hardly be termed aged. There was a remarkable intelligence in his features, as of a person who had so cultivated his mental part that it could not fail to mould the physical to itself, and become manifest by unmistakable tokens. Although, by a seemingly careless arrangement of his heterogeneous garb, he had endeavoured to conceal or abate the peculiarity, it was sufficiently evident to Hester Prynne, that one of this man s shoulders rose higher than the other. Again, at the first instant of perceiving that thin visage, and the slight deformity of the figure, she pressed her infant to her bosom, with so convulsive a force that the poor babe uttered another cry of pain. But the mother did not seem to hear it (62). It was the scarlet letter in another form; the scarlet letter endowed with life! The mother herself as if the red ignominy were so deeply scorched into her brain, that all her conceptions assumed its form had carefully wrought out the similitude; lavishing many hours of morbid ingenuity, to create an analogy between the object of her affection, and the emblem of her guilt and torture. But, in truth, Pearl was the one, as well as the other; and only in consequence of that identity had Hester contrived so perfectly to represent the scarlet letter in her appearance (105). 14