Term 1 Study Guide

SECTION C: Pegi Bano, Sean Devlin, Tommy Brown, Piro Capo, Anthony Dowling, Matt Kearner

Term One Review


The scarlet letter:
• Characters:
o Hester Prynne: both guilty and innocent. Committed a sin yet is still a good person, main protagonisto Pearl: innocent child of Hester & Dimmesdale, gets made fun of sometimes and scolded for being a “devil child”
o Arthur Dimmesdale: the minister, Hester’s lover and sinner but is an important and role example of good for the towns people
o Roger Chillingworth: the "blackman" disgused as a physican but was Hester's real husband looking for revengeo Mistress Hibbins: Governor’s sister suspected on being a witch
o Gov. Bellingham: governor, prosecuted Hester

• Setting: Boston

• Plot: In a small Puritan community Hester is forced to wear a big “A” on her chest to publicly show her sin of adultery. Her husband was away but she gave birth to her daughter, Pearl. This caused a lot of suspicion in the community so as her punishment she is not only forced to wear the A but also has to live in the outskirts of town. When being scolded on the scaffold Hester still refuses to admit who the baby’s father is. Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s real husband comes into town not revealing his identity comes posing as a doctor. Hester keeps his secret because he threatens her. He really came to down to find out that Hester’s secret lover is and is forced to spend a lot of time with Dimmesdale. It is not revealed until later that Dimmesdale is Hester’s partner and that they are actually in love.

• Symbols
o the scaffold: a stage right in the middle of town, is a symbol for humiliation, fear, discipline, and punishment
o the thorn bush: growing outside the prison door shows how the outside world is free and nature is pure it symbolizes both beauty & justice
o Scarlet letter: sin, punishmento Use of color: bright colors are used in a peaceful, forgiving, justice scenes and gloomy colors represent evil, punishment, and crime
o Divine maternity: allusion to Mary & Jesus – Hester is the anti-Christ challenges divine maternity

• Major themes: Sin, consequences, society, vengeance

• BACKGROUND/TODAY: in puritan time, religion, and law were the same. The law was the religion; Hester committed a sin and was punished for her crime. She was scolded by the whole town and forced to live in isolation. Today we do not enforce religion and law together as much, for example it is common for a single mother to raise a child but in Puritan society it would have been a crime.



Romanticism:
• It can be considered the “counter Enlightenment.”
• It is an international artistic and philosophical movement that redefined the fundamental ways in which people in Western cultures thought about themselves and about their world.
• Nature was the main focus of romanticism since numerous people began to use it to portray their personal opinions and beliefs through it.
• Art was also a main focus of romanticism. The drawings that were created during this period were noticeably more modern than those drawn in the previous years.
• Some see it as the beginning of modernist thought, the beginning of a resistance against the Enlightenment.

Transcendentalism:
• Its followers were strong believers in their new ideas of religion, literature, culture and philosophy that emerged in New England in the mid-19th century.
• It originally began as a protest against the general state of culture and society.
• Transcendentalists were united by belief that we all possess a divine spark, and that humans trail clouds of glory. This purity and innocence is lost over time.
• Ralph Waldo Emerson is considered to be the father of transcendentalism.
• He insists that nature is “but the web of God.”
• He is also considered to be God to the transcendentalists.



Thoreau was a transcendentalist.
In Civil Disobediance: Thoreau starts arguing that government rarely proves itself useful and that it derives its power from the majority. Democracy is the power by the people. The majority has the most power but the minority knows what is wrong and what is right. He contends what people should is to do what they believe is right and not to follow the law that is poorly made by the majority. The majority do not have the common sense or plain folk mentality because they do not know the real world. When a country’s government is unjust, people should refuse and stay away from the law.

This is true in Hester’s case because she defied the sacred law of puritan life. She was disgraced and ridiculed. In this case, the majority won the battle because no one supported Hester. She was forced to move and found that living in the woods was better than being ridiculed in the town.

Walden : Thoreau's account of the two years he spent living in the woods. Thoreau begins with a long chapter on Economy, stating his case for moving to the woods, not paying taxes. Thoreau is upset how the society is. He escapes to live at Walden Pond. He tells how he attempts to find a deeper meaning in life. In the process he discovers self reliance and qualities beyond simplicity.

In, Walden a repeating theme in Walden is simplicity. Thoreau’s simplicity was the solution in enlightening people so the whole society can accomplish surreal things. So that we can get rid of society problems and live peacefully. This is related to Scarlet letter because Hester’s town was caught up in the idea of simplicity. They focused more on the harmful deed and never thought about humans not being perfect. These accusations and wrongful acts are what drove Thoreau to Walden Pond.

The Sovereignty and Goodness of God: Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, : Indians attack Mary’s town and gets her as prisoner. She tells the readers that they showed little respect. An example of this was when they did not care when her and her baby fell of a horse.
As time goes on, her attitude towards the captors gets worse at time progresses. One man threatens to hurt her child. She realizes that in order to get respect she must take charge and be more forceful.
During the time, they were very desperate for food because of the lack of treatment by the capturers. They even resorted to boiling a horses leg for a source of food. In order to get food, she starts to knit for trading. She was able to see divine providence at work when the Indian people gave her dead son a proper burial. Indians were also giving food from the goodness of their heart.
This is related to Hester Prynne because Hester held captive because of the attitude of the town. They ridiculed her and that forced her to live far away. She became emotionally distressed and found it hard, but she found a living by knitting and she also found respect. Also the major themes are similar where they must handle their situations in which they are put in and cherish whatever you got.


Nature is written by Ralph Emerson. He was a huge driving force in the ideas of transcendentalism. Emerson began to explore the philosophical standpoint of Idealism, in which the natural world is one and the same as the mental world. His next big hit would be Walden.
In the Nature essay, he questions what nature is. Nature is what it is, yet man still examines and questions it. He says science has one goal of finding the law of nature. He states we have theories of race and relations, yet no approach to an idea of creation. He says that we are so far away from getting this truth because of religious confrontations. He then says that everything, man, music and art is underneath the rank of nature. Nature is pure while everything else is not. He also urges to cherish nature whenever you can or alone. And by doing this brings out sweet harmony. Also says “The production of a work of art throws a light upon the mystery of humanity. A work of art is an abstract or epitome of the world. It is the result or expression of nature, in miniature.”

This is related to Scarlet Letter because it directly goes against the ideas of Puritanism. Nature promotes being one and understanding nature and ignoring the law of god. In scarlet letter, god is law and nothing else matters.


Anne Bradstreet, who is the first American poet, was born and raised as a Puritan. In her poem “Upon The Burning Of Our House, July 10th, 1666”, Bradstreet tells the valuable lessons she learned from the fire that destroyed her home.
Bradstreet learns from the fire decides to thank God in the midst of her house burning:
Summary: She explains that everything that was on fire she did not actually own, for they belonged to God’s. Therefore, she could not mourn the lost because He had the right to take them away.
Also Bradstreet learns from the fire is earthly pleasures are fleeting she realizes material possessions are easy to gain as well as loose.
She continues to reminisce on the things that might have taken place in the house but will no longer since it now consists mainly of ashes
. She also notices that her wealth does not come from the things she gains on earth but her true wealth lies in heaven.
Bradstreet’s strong Puritan background is evident in this poem. Her acknowledgement of God through out this poem shows her respect and devotion to her Puritan beliefs. It is related to the Scarlet Letter because of the strong principles being expressed here. The strong belief is that god is the higher power. Hester Prynne defies the rules of the higher power and must be marked for the rest of her life, she loses her reputation but gains a beautiful baby. A disaster turned into beautiful event just like how Bradstreet had her revelation.


Sinners At The Hands of an Angry God- Written by Jonathan Edwards- Sermon that gives a detailed account of Hell- Edwards hopes to instill fear into the people listening to straighten up their lives before it is too late- Gives ten descriptions of Hell and Satan- Edwards condemns all sinners Thomas Jefferson- Born April 13, 1743 in Virginia- Attended the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia- Married Martha Wayles Skelton when he was 29, had 6 children- Wrote the Declaration of Independence in 1776- Served as Governor of Virginia from 1779-1781

Plymouth Plantation
William Bradford shows how the puritans overcame their obstacle using faith and religion. For example, if sailors became ill, they wouldn't treat them and instead believed that god would save them. Puritans overcame their obstacles and believed that god helped them through everything. From this we can understand how the american dream was derived from their experiences. It connects to the scarlet letter because both are set in a Puritan society where their are strict laws and god is the basis of their religion

The autobiography of Ben Franklin:• Born into a poor family and was one of many children, he became rich from hand work and being educated. • United the colonies and wanted peace with England. • Was a peacemaker and popular all over Europe• Mature for his age and quite caringFranklin’s good deeds• helps Dutchman from fallings off the boat• giving the woman and child a loaf of bread


Connections:
Puritan belief, the idea of self individualism and transcendentalism, resistance to government is related term two and The Eyes Were Watching God. Janie is an independent woman just like what Civil Disobedience calls for. Also, Hester is a single mom who raises her child, Pearl, on her own.

In Term 3, Cry The Beloved Country had major corruption and civil unrest. The white people had the power and did not give any to black population. Just like in the Civil disobedience, the majority of the people thought what was best and did not take into account the minority. There is also a battle between civilization and nature which is related to Nature. The nature is actually the black culture and it has trouble adapting to a white culture. So the people resort to crime and drugs.

In Term 4, Macbeth had greed and regret. Hester had much regret after her adultery act. And Janie had much regret with her life. Macbeth, although filled with regret, fights till his last breath. The problem with him is that he could not get enough power. So he kept on killing. He used ambition. They used ambition to better their life. But, their entire lives end is drastically and sadly.

In Term 5, Crucible is filled with wrongful accusations based on personal gain and greed. These are related to the basic principles of puritan belief. They were very strict and even found dancing a crime. It is also related to Civil Disobedience where the trial was the higher power even though it was making huge mistakes.