Miranda: English II, Section F

English Blog: Practice for forming arguments and a thesis statement, based on quotations and notes from class

Ch.6 “Pearl”

1. “Her Pearl!—For so had Hester called her; not as a name expressive of her aspect, which (irony) had nothing of the calm, white, unimpassioned lustre (not) that would be indicated by the comparison. But she named the infant ‘Pearl’, as being of great price, (huge effort; sacrifice) –purchased with all she had,–her mother’s only treasure!” (priceless ness, value, rich, rare) (80—not correct).

Pearl
not white, calm or lacking passion
her name conflicts with her personality (ironic)
Hester was sacrificing and it was a huge effort to keep Pearl and develop a relationship with her
-suggests Pearl’s isolation, her own mother doesn’t understand her and has great difficulty developing a relationship with her (sad)
Hester worked very hard to achieve Pearl and develop a relationship with her, she gave it everything she had, suggesting a great sacrifice
Treasure: Pearl is very valuable to Hester

Arguments
The fact that Hester named Pearl a name that was so utterly conflicting with her personality and disposition suggests that Hester didn’t expect Pearl to be like that. The irony of the conflict between her name and her personality strengthens the comparison between what Pearl could have been, and perhaps, what Hester expected her to be, with who she really was. Pearl is very different from the Puritan society and she is so “ahead of her time” and intelligent, that no one understands her (including her own mother-Hester), which leads to them calling her demon-child because they are afraid of the unknown and what she might do to their society.

Thesis
Although Pearl’s name seems to suggest purity and calmness, as well as perhaps a lack of passionate behavior, Pearl’s personality and disposition proves to be exactly the opposite.

The Puritan society in which Pearl lives is really not as advanced as she is, and the fact that she is so different from everyone else makes the community ostracize her, for fear of the unknown and what Pearl could potentially do to their community. Even Hester, Pearl’s own mother works very hard in order to develop a relationship with Pearl and learn to understand her.

Question To Consider: Was Pearl “evil” from the very beginning, or did the fact that no one seemed to understand her (including her own mother) contribute to her developing characteristics that were “ahead of their time” and misunderstood by the community?

2. “Her nature…lacked reference and adaptation to the world into which she was born. The child could not be made amenable to rules. In giving her existence, a great law had been broken: and the result was a being, whose elements were perhaps beautiful and brilliant, but all in disorder: or with an order peculiar to themselves, amidst which the point of variety and arrangement was difficult or impossible to be discovered” (81-82).

Lacked reference and adaptation to the world: outsider, “alien”, disconnected
Amenable to rules: rebelliousness
A great law: fundamentally wrong; curse
Perhaps: open to interpretation; reflects the author thinking
Or
Was difficult or impossible to be discovered: so “ahead of her time” that the community is not advanced enough to understand her

Arguments
The fact that Pearl even lacked reference to the world she lived in, just displays how modern and “ahead of her time” she really is. Pearl’s qualities of rebelliousness or lack of respect, could simply be misunderstood, or perhaps, caused by the fact that no one seems to understand her. The fact that Pearl was produced through the fact that a great law was broken suggests that her existence is fundamentally wrong. Hawthorne uses the word “perhaps” to suggest that maybe the community sees Pearl as non-conformist, evil, or a devil-child, simply has to do with the fact that they are not advanced enough to understand her, and they just suggest these things about her because they are afraid of the unknown, and Pearl seems unpredictable and very different from any one they have ever known. They do not understand her, or what she could potentially do to the community, so they socially ostracize her and view her with great negativity.

Thesis
The fact that Pearl is seen as a “devil-child” and is viewed by the Puritan society that she lives in, with great negativity, is a result of the fact that she is too “ahead of her time” for the community to understand her. That is to say that, the reason the community views Pearl with such great negativity, is that they can tell that she has unbelievable intelligence and intuition, and she is so different from everyone they have ever encountered, that they shun her from society from fear and lack of understanding about who she is. They do not know what she could potentially do to the community, if they eventually agreed to accept her for who she is.

Question to Consider: Was Pearl in fact evil, or simply misunderstood and too “ahead of the times” for the community to handle?

Blogs 13 and 14

Scarlet Letter Essay Topics: Initial Brainstorming and Organizing of Ideas

 

1. How does communal pressure to conform, exerted upon an individual, help to shape that person’s identity? Consider this concept by developing an argument about Hester OR Dimmesdale (choose one).

 

Hester: she commits a crime, which displays a certain attitude of non-conformity, but when fronted with the pressure to conform, after she has committed this crime, Hester’s outwardly displays conformity to the community, but, inside, she questions the society, and she is very different from the Puritan community and who they want her to be. This makes Hester a very conflicted person in that she does not truly feel and agree with what she outwardly shows. The pressure to conform does affect Hester’s identity in that she is forced to conform to society in terms of her behavior, and how she conducts herself in society, but the pressure to conform also makes her more and more aware of what is wrong with the Puritan community and aspects of it that she disagrees with.

 

Dimmesdale: Most of Dimmesdale’s pressure to conform is a result of what is assumed of a minister and it also comes down to his own pressure that he exerts upon himself. The pressure to conform deeply affects Dimmesdale, because he has committed a crime and he realizes the impact his confession of committing this crime will have on the community. If Dimmesdale admits that he committed adultery with Hester, the community will explode, the values will dissolve, and all will be chaos. The Puritan society is so focused on religion and achieving salvation and reaching heaven, that the Puritan towns were arranged so that they would be very close to each other, so the Puritan neighbors could watch over each other. If anything suspicious happened, a Puritan could be punished for putting the other members of the community’s chances of achieving salvation in jeopardy. Dimmesdale was the ultimate example and ideal of what was good and what was pure, and he, for many people, even represented God, because he was said to have such a close connection with God. Dimmesdale was venerated, the people worshiped him, and he realized that if he confessed to committing Adultery, the community and everything it was built on would crumble. The pressure to conform causes Dimmesdale to go crazy, essentially. He has midnight vigils, he sees visions, he becomes weak and sick, all because of his own guilt, which he could completely get rid of, if only he could confess to his crime. However, the pressure to conform prevents Dimmesdale from doing this.

 

2. Often in a relationship between the individual and the community, we see an individual’s nature or intuition at odds with the community’s values and laws. If these are so far apart, how can an individual thrive in that community? What does it take to live, if one is so alienated from the majority? Explore your answers to these questions by developing an argument about Hester OR Dimmesdale.

 

Hester: Hester is able to thrive in the Puritan community because she lives on her own and she pretends to conform to the society on the outside, while on the inside, she questions the community and its values

-In order to live on her own, Hester must develop her own way of life. Because her neighbors aren’t constantly watching her, she is able to live her own life. Hester lives within the general rules of the puritan community, but the isolation of where she lives allows her to not be restricted from the strict rules of the Puritan community. Because she lives so far away from the community, she has a certain amount of freedom in the way she lives and what she does.

-Hester outwardly shows what the community wants her to: conformity and being completely committed to the Puritan values in society, but inwardly, she questions the community and its values, which is very controversial because it is unclear whether she conforms or does not conform to society. I think that Hester does not conform, because, inwardly, she strongly defies the Puritan community and its values. Even though she does not outwardly show how she truly feels, what she feels in her heart and what she thinks in her head are what she really thinks and feels.

 

Dimmesdale: Thrives in the community in that he is venerated, but is so guilty that he becomes weak and sick. In Dimmesdale’s case, he needed more freedom and creativity to live his own life, rather than the life that the community expected him to live.

 

It takes strength and independence to live outside a community. One must be able to produce their own food and means of living, and they cannot be discouraged by the fact that they are essentially ostracized from the community.

 

3. What is the role of an outsider? To shake things up? To observe and record? To undergo his own journey? Explore your answer to this question by developing an argument about Chillingworth. Ultimately, what is Chillingworth’s purpose in the novel?

 

An outsider has many roles in a story. An outsider gives the reader something to compare the situation that is being looked at with another perspective or view, and an outsider also gives a new perspective on things in that he or she is not expected to be the same or conform to society. An outsider in a Puritan community, such as Chillingworth, was not expected to conform and was accepted as being different and adhering to different values than those that were upheld in the community. Someone who already lives in the community, such as Hester, on the other hand, is not allowed to be different from everyone else, and if they display non-conformist behavior, they can be punished. Chillingworth’s purpose in the novel is to give the reader a comparison between him and the Puritan characters in the book, and also to point out that, although Chillingworth was very different from the community, he was accepted as being different because of the fact that he was an outsider.

 

4. How does an individual’s self-imposed isolation from the community help to provide him with a sense of identity? Is the development of an internal world beneficial or healthy? Is it harmful or destructive? Explore your response to this issue by developing an argument about Dimmesdale.

 

midnight vigils: Dimmesdale is able to look within himself and evaluate and examine himself and his thoughts. Essentially, the process of looking within himself, although it has negative effects on Dimmesdale, living in isolation does give him a certain sense of identity because he spends a lot of time with himself, or reading, or thinking, which help him to evaluate himself an find out who he really is. The development of an internal world can be helpful for a character or person to examine themselves and see themselves for who they really are, but for Dimmesdale, this is very unhealthy and destructive because Dimmesdale punishes himself and breaks himself down. He has such a negative attitude about himself and he feels so guilty about committing adultery with Hester that analyzing himself further only points out more flaws and more things that are wrong with him. Dimmesdale is so guilty already and the “midnight vigils” seem to be his own punishment to himself for what he has done. They break him down and make him sicker and weaker, but he feels that at least he is punishing himself and in his eyes, he deserves it.

 

5. In moments of tension and conflict within a community, anything goes–chaos can follow–what can emerge (eventually) out of chaos? What of value, if anything, can emerge out of tension and conflict? How can a community redefine itself, if it can at all? Explore your response to this issue by developing an argument about the community.

 

Radical ideas can emerge out of chaos, but simple ideas that are based on the past can also emerge from chaos. This is because, anything goes, people just want order, they want a structure in their lives, and they will accept ideas that seem good to them quickly so as to create a sense of some sense of established order. Positive things can emerge out of tension and conflict. When people disagree with each other, or disagree with the community or the way things are done, they are forced to make some kind of change or compromise in order to satisfy both sides of an argument, so that chaos doesn’t break out. Chaos and tension/conflict can bring about change. If this is a change for the better, it can be seen as a value, but if it is a bad change, it is not a value, but rather something that stops the community or society from progressing. A community can redefine itself by keeping many of the old ways or things in place, but changing minor things, or just making everything less severe (like in the case of the Puritans-over the years) and eventually, as time goes on, more and more will change about the community, which will cause it to be redefined.

 

I am supposed to have already finished the Scarlet Letter. I haven’t yet…I am behind on my reading. I am sorry.

The following Blog is essentially an overview of what I have observed about The Scarlet Letter, so far, in terms of the themes, characters, and general ideas that are expressed in the book.

THEMES

imagination vs. reality

what is real vs. what appears to be real

tangible vs. celestial

Hester and Dimmesdale have visions about the things that are going on in their lives. They see things or have visions about things that seem to be real, but are really just part of their imaginations. However, the fact that the reader is able to understand what they are having visions about makes it a very interesting way to explore their characters, essentially through their head.

Hester: flashbacks on the scaffold of her past (pg. 51-53)

Dimmesdale: sees visions during his “midnight vigils” (when he looks at his face through the looking glass) (pg. 131)

The letter A in the sky when Dimmesdale, Pearl, and Hester stand together on the scaffold: is it real? Does it exist? What does it represent? Is it conveying a message?

Very open to interpretation, other people in the town saw it but it was unclear why it happened or whether it was meant to be a message to Dimmesdale. Has to do with reality vs. what is not real

The Individual vs. the Community

The book is written in response to Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” which encourages non-conformity, but The Scarlet Letter explores what happens when someone does not conform to society, how the community reacts and what the individual does in response.

How the community treats Hester, how the community feels about Pearl (a product of sin), how Hester is forced to deal with the way she is being treated: Hester grows as a person and learns from what she has done. She becomes a very kind and gentle individual, even though she is really a symbol of sin and non conformity…makes the community and the reader question whether non conformity is bad after all, does it have a positive affect on Hester??

Good vs. Evil and Religion

The book really explores the fact that people are not just good and evil, and it compares the different characters in the book.

The book is based in a Puritan society with very strict rules. The rules are implemented because of the Puritan idea of original sin, the idea that all people are predestined to be sinful, and therefore they need to have strict rules in order to maintain order in society and prevent people from straying from purity and what is right. The book poses questions like: what is sin? Did Hester deserve the punishment that she got? Did she commit a sin?

The book talks a lot about Satan and messages from heaven. It also relates these themes to the characters in the story.

(CHARACTERS: in terms of GOOD or EVIL)

Chillingworth:

evil

satan-like

wants to punish Dimmesdale

premeditated cruelty

deformed: suggests that he may be deformed on the inside and out

scholarly: looked down upon in society

EVIL

Dimmesdale:

committed a sin in a moment of passion and love…was it really a sin?

minister: the embodiment of what is pure and what is right

helps people to get in contact with God

beloved by all

upheld as an idyllic man in society

young and passionate

very guilty about his sin

wants to confess, but can’t bring himself to

gives passionate speeches, people really understand and identify with him

respected

GOOD

Hester:

committed a sin in a moment of passion and love…was it really a sin?

non-conformist: is different

helps poor people, sews them clothing

accepts and learns from her mistake

becomes a respected person in society because of her kindness and gentleness and willingness to help others, even though she committed a sin

is very passionate

tries to teach Pearl what is right

becomes more and more respected and accepted in society as a member of the community, even though she committed a sin and was ostracized (metaphorically) from society

GOOD

Pearl:

A product or consequence of sin

is unbelievably knowledgeable (which is looked down upon in society)

has an inner sense of what is going on around her and what people feel

non-conformist: is very different from everyone else

is a symbol of sin

touches the scarlet letter, is affected and enthralled by it

very scary laugh, finds joy in things that are not joyful in the least

scary

described as an imp or an elf, almost not considered human

society thinks she is not good

shows some signs of goodness

very mature and knowledgeable

Hester thinks she sees a demon in Pearl’s eye

Pearl plays games with inanimate object, but they are all her enemies

Pearl doesn’t have any friends; she has not been exposed to children her age

throws stones at the Puritan children when they call he names or make fun of her

passionate

Hester is afraid of Pearl

Pearl is such a white, pure name and it represents beauty, but Pearl does not really turn out that way

PROBABLY EVIL, BUT I REALLY JUST WANT DIMMESDALE, HESTER, AND PEARL TO BE A HAPPY FAMILY, SO IT IS HARD FOR ME TO SAY THAT, AND SHE DOES SHOW SOME SIGNS OF GOODNESS AND UNDERSTANDING

The Scarlet Letter

Represents the consequences of sin

is a symbol of sin and embarrassment

burdens Hester for life

is very beautiful, physically: red and gold and beautifully embroidered

Hester eventually accepts the Scarlet Letter and the consequences of her sin and she decides to learn from them

I don’t actually know whether it is good or evil. Obviously, it is a symbol of Hester’s sin and the consequences of sin, and it will burden Hester for the rest of her life, but Hester seems to accept her sin and its consequences, and she really does learn and become a better person as a result of learning new things from them. The Scarlet Letter represents Hester’s sin, which is a very negative thing, but Hester does learn from the Scarlet Letter and it had a positive affect on her character.

I don’t really know what to write about for this blog. I feel guilty not to be writing about the Scarlett Letter. I really do like the Scarlett Letter but I don’t really feel in the mood to write about it right now. If it is okay, I would like to use this blog to write out and kind of analyze what I have been thinking about.

 I have been thinking about two things that happened while I was running on Friday and I want to write them down so that I don’t forget them…maybe I can look back on these things later on and maybe they will be useful for me. One of the things that happened on my run was that I was running the zig-zags, about two blocks away from Marlborough and I came around the corner to see a row of sprinklers ahead of me, and I was hot and I wanted water and they were just physically so beautiful, they were kind of like a work of art, or they seemed that way to me in that moment. The way the sun was hitting them made them seem so full and powerful, and they reminded me of fireworks. Then when I looked back at them when I crossed the street, I looked back and they were clear again, instead of white, and they seemed less full almost, just from the way the sun was hitting them, and the perspective I was looking at them from. I just thought of a metaphorical meaning for this incident. I think it has to do with the way you look at things in life. You can look at things in a positive and full way, and think that everything is going to work itself out…or you can look at things in a kind of negative way, not seeing things for what they could be with some positive light shed on them, but rather, for how they look from a negative point of view. Sometimes everything is really stressful and it all seems very negative, but, if you look at it with positive light, you can see it all completely differently. I want to be a force of positive attitude and spirit in the world, that is one of my goals.

The other thing that happened on my run happened in about the last 50-100 meters of the run. I was running along, and then, quite suddenly, I felt really free and I felt like I was really light and I was almost gliding across the ground. Nothing hurt, not my back, not my legs, not my ankle, I didn’t even feel tired, I felt powerful and positive and bright and I was so happy to be running. It reminded me of the scene in Forrest Gump when Forrest is a little boy and his legs have something wrong with them, so he has to wear big metal braces on his legs that make him walk kind of lopsided. Well, in one scene, when Forrest is getting pursued by some bullies, he starts running with these big cumbersome braces on his legs, and as he runs, at first he is kind of limping, and then his speed keeps increasing, until, as he is running, the little bolts and screws in the braces start flying off of his legs, until his legs are bare, and he is just running freely, leaving the brace behind him, leaving the things that held him back and being free to run. I injured my ankle about two weeks ago, and, not only had my ankle been hurting in the days before, but my body had been so sore from not running in a week to coming back full on, more or less. In that minute, or probably less, I felt so free and I was just running…not thinking about anything else, it seemed, just thinking about running and how good it felt to be running in that moment…it was a very powerful moment, and I think it was the first time probably in that week that I felt like I was back, I was no longer injured, I was back and healthy, and I was so happy to be there running in that moment.

 One more thing that happened earlier in the day on Friday made me SO happy. Ms.Brown let me get my own ice for my ankle, and I went into this tiny room that was actually a restroom, but it was also where the ice machine was kept. Anyway, I went in this room and there was a roll of bags for the ice, and I took a bag and then I opened the ice machine, by lifting the lid, and it was so amazing to see that ice, and there was a big ice scooper for scooping the ice into the bag and I can’t even really explain why it made me so happy, but it was just so simple and so easy, and it was all so perfect and not complicated. Just the bag, the ice, and the scooper. I got my bag of ice and I just walked into the athletic office and told them how amazing it was and how it made me so happy. They thought it was kind of funny that I was so happy about the ice machine, but it really made me so happy. I walked out of the building and I was just beaming, I couldn’t even hide how happy I was. It was really amazing and I hope I get a chance to go back in that ice room and fill up another of those bags with ice using that scooper.

 I really like bloging, and one of the things I like so much about writing is the freedom that it gives the writer to express their feelings and thoughts. I felt really free writing this blog and I hope it is okay that I didn’t write about the Scarlett Letter.

So much depends on a small ice machine, filled with ice, waiting to be scooped with a big grey scooper, waiting to fill a clear plastic bag, to make someone so happy. There is beauty and joy in simplicity.

 I just wrote that poem. It is something to think about…for another time…

ice