The Scarlet Letter

1. The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

2. Puritanism Important Facts about the Puritans • Puritans were group of Protestants who fled England in the early 1600s to seek freedom from religious persecution. (Pilgrims). • Puritan churches are stark and simple – white walls, hard wood benches – no adornment. • Puritans established the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1628, and hoped to purify the church.

3. Basic Puritan BeliefsPuritan Work Ethic • Hard work brings success • This is where we get our idea of the American Dream.

4. Basic Puritan BeliefsReverence for Education • Mandatory school attendance. • Puritans believed knowledge was the best weapon against Satan • Puritans established Harvard University in 1636 Harvard University, August 2008

5. Basic Puritan BeliefsSupremacy of the Divine Will • All natural phenomena are explained as being the will of God • All unnatural occurrences are attributed to witches, who are believed to be agents of the Devil

6. Basic Puritan BeliefsSins and the Puritans • Every man is constantly tempted by the Devil towards some sin • Part of church belief was that once a man sinned, he must: • Openly/publicly confess his sin; • repent, and • perform some act of penance • Without open confession, a person had no chance of ever being saved (remember for Scarlet Letter)

7. Basic Puritan BeliefsFunction of the Devil • Main purpose – to tempt men to sin and disobey the commandments of God so he could destroy God’s kingdom. • The Devil could take on any shape on earth and deceive even the best of men. • This is where we get the superstition about black cats • Man must therefore take every possible precaution against something so deceptive as the Devil • Also believed that the Devil held his strongest foothold in the New World because of the large regions of forests and the huge numbers of barbarous “savages” existing in America

8. Basic Puritan BeliefsTheocratic Government • The government is controlled by and made up of ministers and church members • Church and the civil government are the same • No separation of church and state

9. Salem Witch Trials of 1692 • At its worst, Puritanism was bigoted, cruel, intolerant, and superstitious • Most notorious example found in Salem witch trials • 19 people hung, one pressed to death, and hundreds brought to trial • severe punishments inflicted for minor infractions of Puritan rules • servant woman was banished from colony for smiling in church • man who swore stood for hours holding his tongue on a forked stick • Puritans were sadistically imaginative in devising punishments • Ironically, reestablished in their new society the very system of intolerance they had fled

10. Puritan Beliefs • To the Puritans any misfortune at all was God’s punishment for sinful behavior. • Conformity was paramount to their existence -- this is why the first people who were accused were social outcasts:

11. Hawthorne’s Interest in the Puritans(remember for Scarlet Letter) • This slide is for Honors only • Puritans’ self-righteousness, intolerance, and narrow-minded bigotry interested Hawthorne, himself a descendent of stern Puritans • Explored ideas of self-discipline, obsession with introspection, sin, and guilt to learn about the inner recesses of the human heart.

12. Nathaniel Hawthorne • (1804 – 1864) Born in Salem, MA • Related to one of the judges during the Salem Witch Trials • His work is considered Dark Romanticism • Many of his novels/stories contain moralmessages and have deep psychologicalcomplexities. “Every individual has a place to fill in the world and is important in some respect whether he chooses to be so or not.”

13. Journal #1 – 20th Century SL • (Refer to the handout) • Read the article from the Los Angeles Times regarding what one judge is doing to punish criminals. • Then, write a letter to the editor responding to the judge’s methods.

14. Quick Write #1 – Prison Door What impression comes to mind when you think of a prison door? What images are used to describe the prison door? What is the effect of this diction? (Tone, mood, atmosphere created)

15. Journal #2 - Rose • The author includes a real flower, a wild rosebush, in his description. What is the effect of this image? • What does the rose symbolize? • Ann Hutchinson was a religious leader in seventeenth-century America who attacked popular religious practices and preached for a simpler and purer religion without ministers or buildings. She was tried and banished in 1637. • What does suggesting that a rose might have sprung up under her footsteps imply?

16. Quick Write #2 – Letter Fits • Describe the objects and images you used to create your Letter Fits. • Why did you choose these items? • What do they mean to you? • What do they say about you?

17. Quick Write #3 – Pearl as Symbol • Give two examples of how Pearl is the scarlet letter personified. • In your writing, show how Pearl is a symbol of her mother’s warring spirit.

18. Journal #3 – Hester’s Diary • Write a 1st person diary entry for Hester Prynne based on Ch. 3-5. Make sure that you incorporate at least three of the following into your entry: • Hester’s feelings towards Chillingworth, past and present • Why Hester chooses to stay in Boston. • The anguish and torment she continually feels, along with some specific causes of it. • The “special power” that the scarlet letter gives her.

19. Journal #4 – Custody Debate Bulleted Outline • As you read Ch. 5-8, make notes that will serve as evidence/proof for the side you are arguing for in the debate. • In addition, try to anticipate which evidence the opposing side may use.

20. Journal #5 – Prequel to the Custody Debate • Who should have custody of Pearl Prynne? Should Hester retain custody or should Pearl be given over to the custody of the town of Boston? We will debate this matter during the next class period, but first you need to write about it. • When you have completed your rereading of Ch. 6-8, write up a one-page argument quoting from the novel at least 3 times along the way. • Begin your page with the words, “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury ... ” and imagine that you are writing your final summation to a jury of your case. Write in a voice as if you were the lawyer making that summation.