“Miserable Eminence”: The Scaffold in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter Abstract The paper argues that the Scaffold more than the scarlet letter ‘A’ is the chief organizing motif in The Scarlet Letter and the way in which Hawthorne has handled it establishes this novel to be a work of much greater thematic, structural and imaginative unity than has been till now appreciated. The Scaffold motif occurs in the novel some fifty times and sometimes becomes fused with the scarlet letter ‘A’ motif, and sometimes with other motifs that determine the thematic/symbolic patterning of the novel and give it its organic coherence.…
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is about Hester Prynne, who’s the protagonist. Overall, she has been branded with the letter A, which signifies adultery, for the wrong that she has done in her life. For the rest of her life, and till death, she is forced to wear forever her public shame. Now, in the society that we live in currently, people aren’t branded, but if I was branded with a letter that shows my flaw, what would it be? What letter would I have that would shame for the rest of my life and till death?…
In the beginning of the story, a girl named hEster Prynne, had just got out of jail wearing a scarlet A and holding a baby. The townspeople shame her for her sin of adultery. In the crowd, Hester makes eye contact with a man. This man went on to ask a citizen on why the aldt was standing on the podium. THe citizen explains that Hester is married, but committed adultery and had a baby now, but won't give up the father's name.…
In a society where many people pride themselves on their honesty, condemning deceit as abhorrent and lies as cowardly, only a small percent glorify the ability to convincingly mislead others. While hiding behind lies is not the optimal approach, when used with a modicum of discretion, it can be the key to survival. In the widely read fictional story, The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne’s use of artifice was the support she needed to keep both herself and her daughter, Pearl, alive. While Hester appeared chastised, wearing bland clothing and donning the Scarlet Letter, her thoughts did not reflect the demure persona she had adopted.…
A Foreshadowing Bright or Dark Future? The use of symbolism of the rose-bush in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, is ambiguous which brings confusion in the story. At the beginning of the novel, the “let us hope,” (42) can be a use of foreshadowing towards a character or characters that are revealed throughout the novel hinting a bright or dark future.…
"Rethinking Procrastination: Positive Effects of "Active" Procrastination Behavior on Attitudes and Performance. " The Journal of Social Psychology, vol. 145, no. 3, June 2005, pp. 245-264. EBSCOhost, proxylib.msjc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cmedm&AN=15959999&site=eds-live. Hensley, Lauren C. "The Draws and Drawbacks of College Students' Active Procrastination.…
When that task is split up with several deadlines that are spaced closely together, though, they complete the work in less time than if they had been left to their own devices. People only work when they want to or when they have to because they are lazy. Splitting up the deadlines forces procrastinators to constantly be in the state of having to work, or else they would wait until the last minute. This is an example of how sometimes people need some external, uncontrollable, all powerful, force of nature to pressure them into doing better‒like a deadline, more or less. Hardships and misfortune are a perfect example of a factor of life that people just have little to no control over.…
Keeping Appearances When analyzing the topic of adultery (or infidelity), Joy Davidson, a NYC psychiatrist, made a bold statement: “As a society, we are privately more forgiving and publicly often more judgmental. . . ” How many people hide their true identity or ideologies? Many times throughout The Scarlet Letter, emotions and actions completely contradicted one another. Not only does this happen extensively in the book with Arthur Dimmesdale, but the same can be said about modern day.…
In the novel The Scarlett Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main character, Hester Prynne, is branded with the letter A. She is branded with this letter because she has committed adultery, and her punishment is the ridicule from her peers. So I ask myself; if I were to have a scarlet letter, what would it be? It could be a P for procrastination or maybe an N noisy. Or maybe an I for indecisive because I am having some trouble even picking out a letter.…
Symbolism has been in human history since the very beginning, especially in books and poems. It is a way to teach and reach a better understanding of our world or an idea. Nathaniel Hawthorne provides many examples of symbolism in his novel, The Scarlet Letter. Every character provides a different idea, but they are all related and share the topic of sin. You might ask what the scarlet letter, the central symbol of the book, could mean.…
The true test of an individual’s fortitude of spirit and mind derives from how they carry themselves when faced with adversity. Ultimately, there will be challenges in life, and the ability to fight them without compromising one’s character shows the true manifestation of power and strength. Hester overcomes an unfathomable adversity, displaying her inner resilience. In novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne asserts the power of Hester through the surrounding imagery of the scaffold scenes. Hawthorn forces this message with the continual incorporation of the scaffold as the physical representation of this adversity in the context of public shaming.…
Personal Memoir The start of my junior year was uneventful. I had never been nervous for school before, and that didn’t change this year either. Things were the same: same school, same people, same clubs. The only difference was the new classes and teachers.…
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. ”(Abraham Lincoln) To be American means that you are automatically granted the right to freedom, life, liberty, and happiness. Citizenship is automatically granted along with our constitutional rights. American people value independence, power, and money.…
Poor Time Management Once you enter college you will realize that you have a lot of time on your hands. This is a good thing, as it gives you the opportunity to get a job, to be more social, and gives you more time on your hobby. However, if you don’t learn how to manage your time, it can be adverse. Poor time management can lead to bad habits such as procrastination or a bad sleeping schedule.…
What is Time Management? Time management is the manner in which you plan, prioritise and organise specific activities as well as how long you will spend on each of them. Some people may feel that there isn’t enough time in the day, although everyone gets the same 24 hours in a day. Some may attain much more with their time than what others do. The only difference is that, the former may achieve more due to good time management.…