Possible options: Sunshine (How it changes and reflects on different characters throughout the story)
The sun is a small factor in the scarlet letter, and it is too commonly overlooked. The sun doesn't just serve a purpose as a detail for scenery, but as a larger meaning of reflection in the characters.
Evidence:
Pg 91... "But, on one side of the portal and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems... This rose bush by strange chance, has been kept alive in history."
-Whats keeping this morsel of beauty alive? Sunshine is preserving the small piece of positive light in this gloomy prison scene.
Chapter 18 (Flood of Sunshine)
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Pg 201... "No, my little Pearl!" said her mother. "Though must gather thine own sunshine. I have none to give thee!".
Pg 347... "Did the sun, which shone so brightly everywhere else, really fall upon him (Chillingsworth)"
Another idea..
Discussing the harshness of society and how they treat Hester and adultery. Maybe taking into consideration that if this happened today (Which it does), lets say in a super small community, would we see the same results. I wanna go into the subject of punishment and how Hester actually turns the letter A to her advantage. By the end of the novel, the town's people are bragging about their Hester. There is also a possibility to show how Hester has reformed according to society's standards, but also to her standards.
Why doesn't she flee?
Why does unfaithful love keep her tied into society which has absconded her?
*Still working on quotes ... I will add.
Cory,
ReplyDeleteI like how this starts out, and I'm impressed that you've already begun to track down direct textual references which will be useful to you. However in the latter part of the post, you seem to branch out too much. You need to keep your focus narrow. For example, I can see the connection between the sunshine and the rosebush--but it might be too much of a stretch to go from here to, say, the transformation of the letter. This is an essay in which you need to favor depth over breadth.
cory,
ReplyDeletethe sun seems like it could be a good topic. The quotes you found from the text:
Pg 201... "No, my little Pearl!" said her mother. "Though must gather thine own sunshine. I have none to give thee!".
&
Pg 347... "Did the sun, which shone so brightly everywhere else, really fall upon him (Chillingsworth)"
are interesting and give you direct reference to the sun from the text that you could expand on. The rose bush quote doesnt directly relate to the sun in the way that fits your idea like the other 2 do. You could pick out a few characters to talk about (in their relation with the sun). Your first idea for a topic sounds interesting, i would stick with it