Thursday, April 1, 2010
Scarlet Letter
Each day after we meet in groups, one member of each group is responsible for posting a summary of your group’s conversation. We want to hear about specific topics and themes that were discussed; major questions pondered, and key “take-aways” from your discussion. Your post should be free of grammatical and spelling errors and be at least one healthy paragraph.
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As we reread chapter two of Scarlet letter, we got a better understanding of who Hester Prynne is. We said that even though she appeared beautiful she still has some pain in her meaning that she did not show any gestures to know how she was feeling. Also that in the beginning the crowd was talking about who might come out the door and how she might look like and how they might react. In conclusion we said that Hester must have done something bad because of the punishment people want to give her.
ReplyDeleteToday was a very short class because we took most of class time watching a movie. Some of the things that Marianna and I discussed were the main purpose of the scarlet letter. We figured out that it was an actual alphabet letter and the specific letter that you had to wear if you committed a crime was the first letter of the crime you committed. We then found out that the reason she had an A as a scarlet letter was because she committed adultery. We thought that the reading was mostly confusing because of the too much description he describes.
ReplyDeleteToday was pleasant and insightful. Stacy, Ms. Stechmann and I had a good discussion about who Roger Chillingworth is. We said that part of his last name “Chilling” gives a clue about what his personality is like. We agreed that his name gives like a negative tone and the way he acts toward Hester makes her feel scared. We also said that Chillingworth is a doctor and Dimsdale is a priest. The final thing we discussed is that the author uses subtext gives clues to understand the story.
ReplyDeleteToday for our literature groups we joined the Prayer for Owen Meany group because both books use the name Hester, so we were trying to figure out if the personality in each book was related. In our book the personality of Hester is that she is very beautiful and she is one who does not like to share her feelings with other people. When her husband was overseas in Europe she was here in Boston and she committed adultery which was very surprising at the time because during the 1600s the main religion was puritans and that religion was very conservative. Now her adultery is looked upon her wherever she goes. In Prayer for Owen Meany Hester is muscular and she used to be called Hester the Molester. The similarity that the two had was that their sexuality was used upon and against them. We also talked about the characteristic of Pearl (Hester’s baby) and how she is the scarlet letter in human form.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter seven Stacy and I found a connection about how sometimes in life children are taken away by their mother or father because they are not fit to take care of them because in chapter seven Hester went to Governor Bellingham to know if Pearl was going to be taken away from her. We later realized that chapter nine was called “Leech” and we agreed that Roger Chillingworth was a leech and leeches are bloodsuckers who like to suck the blood from people. We said that Roger is a leech because he is trying to suck the truth from Dimsdale. We believe that Dimsdale knows who Hester had the affair with and Roger is trying to get Dimsdale to reveal it.
ReplyDeleteDiscussion we had on the day of 4/12/10-My Birthday!!
ReplyDeleteWe discussed how the title of each chapter plays a role in the chapter, and the title of Chapter 10 was The leech and his patient. A leech is an animal that sucks your blood and we placed Roger as the leech towards Mr. Dimmesdale. We placed Roger as the leech because he is trying to figure out who Hester had the affair with and the reason why Roger is trying to get this information from Mr. Dimmesdale is because he is a priest and in the Catholic religion we confess to the priest meaning, we tell him all the sins we have committed. Mariana and I also believe that Dimmesdale is the guy that Hester had the affair with and we were asked to find evidence for this predication and here is an example on of my evidence ““This man,” said he, at one such moment, to himself, “pure as they deem him, -all spiritual as he seems,-hath inherited a strong animal nature from his father or his mother. Let us dig a little further in the direction of this vein!” ”
Today was a very deep conversation about chapters eleven and twelve. I said that in chapter twelve the scaffold represents the difference between Hester and Dimmesdale situations. Before Hester had to go to the scaffold to receive public humiliation and now Dimmesdale goes to receive public humiliation. They each go to the scaffold for different situation. Stacy later wondered why Dimmesdale is suddenly scared of Chillingworth. Before, we agreed that Chillingworth name shows what his personality is like and he gives people a cold feeling. Chillingworth gives Dimmesdale a cold feeling.
ReplyDeleteToday Mariana and I did not talk about much. What we did talk about was how the scarlet letter changed its meaning in the community from being known as adultery to standing for able because they believed that Hester was a woman of great strength, and she continued to help the poor even though the scarlet letter did not show that she was a good woman. We then agreed that Pearl’s birth was actually a good thing because it gave Hester the strength to know that she had to provide for her family and not let the scarlet letter get her down. Now because of her strength and ability people are now accepting her for who she is.
ReplyDeleteAfter a long break of reading the Scarlet Letter, there was a lot to say about what we read. Throughout some of the chapters the author really emphasize that Dimmesdale clutches his heart over his chest. The reason Stacy and I think that maybe is because he had an affair with Hester and during that time and today, priests are forbidden to have an affair or get married. In chapter fourteen as Chillingworth and Hester were talking, a sudden change has come over Chillingworth’s face. Stacy and I agree that evil has come upon his face and that he lost his human heart. Now moving on to Pearl, she has shown signs that she might have an idea who Dimmesdale really is. For an example, when they were on the scaffold she asked Dimmesdale if she was going to join them. Will she know who Dimmesdale really is, who knows, maybe.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of our discussion, Mariana asked the question, why did Pearl kiss the scarlet when Hester put it back on? I said it was because having the scarlet letter back on, made her feel like she had her real mom back because Pearl is the product of the letter, so without the letter there really is no Pearl. Mariana agreed to this and said that Pearl was so used to it because she had been with the letter for 7-8 years now. We were also discussing how Pearl washed the kiss from her forehead given from Mr. Dimmesdale because she felt replaced by him. At first Pearl was really nice to him, but then her emotions changed and she doesn’t like him and we thought it was probably because she was jealous and she wanted him as a father to her, but not as a husband to Hester.
ReplyDeleteIn today’s discussion we agreed that Pearl could not accept the new happier version of her mother. She forces her mother to put back on the scarlet letter and that makes Hester beauty go away like fading sunshine. Then we wonder if Pearl is innocent or is she reminding her mother the sin she did. Later on in the book Hester and Dimmesdale agree that it is better living in a big town because other people won’t know you as much rather than living in a small town were everything is so public. Looking back at Dimmesdale and his personality, Stacy and I see a change in him. Evil has come out of him that is making him loose it psychologically. For an example, one day Dimmesdale argues with a person against the immortality of the human’s soul, if you die you die. Another example in chapter twenty is when Dimmesdale encounters the youngest nun and puts his robe over his face, showing that he did not want to see her face. It must have made the girl feel upset, but at the same time make her wonder why.
ReplyDeleteNow we are at the end of our book and the end of the story. Dimmesdale left everyone shocked when he revealed his biggest sin. He confessed to the town that he and Hester had an affair and that he is the father of Pearl. When he took off his garments people said they saw the Scarlet Letter just like Hester’s, but the difference is that Dimmesdale has the real stigma and that Hester’s is just a shadow. People see that Hester has the Scarlet Letter, but Dimmesdale has the real emotions of his sin in his heart. Some say Chillingworth caused Dimmesdale’s stigma. Therefore, Dimmesdale died after he confessed his sin. Chillingworth was very upset. He lost his strength, energy, and his revenge and therefore died. He gave his inheritance to Pearl, but we never herd of her again. Later after Hester dies her story about the Scarlet Letter becomes a legend. It shows how strict religion was back then and now it doesn’t really matter as much
ReplyDeleteReflective and thoughtful posts! I'm glad you've had such a great experience with Scarlet Letter.
ReplyDeleteDeath of a Salesman
ReplyDeleteArthur Miller
Today we started a new book. We started reading the introduction and the first act. "Failure must threaten identify itself." We talked about this and we decided that this meant that when you do something bad, than it ruins you and your reputation. The beginning of Act one describes the scenery and how you can identify if the text is talking about if the text is in the past, or present. A part where we figured this out was when the text read "But in the scenes of the past these boundaries are broken, and characters enter or leave a room by stepping "through" a wall on to the forestage." Good book so far.
Death of a Salesman
ReplyDeleteAs we read the first act of the book I realized that Willy committed adultery just like Hester did in the Scarlet Letter. Throughout some parts of the book Willy has flashbacks in the past and also hears things. For example, when Willy was playing with Charley he was talking to his dead brother at the same time. It was hard to hear that Willy was trying to kill himself because he does not like his life; he is tired of his life. Willy is trying to look back to see where he went wrong. His life is the way it is now because of what he did wrong. What goes around comes around
Today we had a discussion on various subjects. We talked about the talk Willy had with Howard where he was trying to find a way to still continue to get money, but without actually having to do the work because he is 84 years old, so he is a bit too old to keep going back and forth with traveling (traveling and delivering things was his job). As the book continued we found that there was more hope for Willy. The confusing part is how to define which parts are past and present. The topic of religion came up and so we started talking about Christian scientists and our personal stories about religion.
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