Final Project - Scene

This does not inculde our title page, as we do not have a title yet! : )


INT. SCENE - DESCRIPTION

Arthur Dimmesdale spent time with Roger Chillingsworth daily in his study and the laboratory. One afternoon while they were in the laboratory Dimmesdale was relaxing by an open window, looking out towards the graveyard while old man Chillingsworth examined plants. They then heard a child’s laughter from the burial ground and Dimmesdale spotted Hester Prynne and Pearl walking in the gravesite. Chillingsworth approaches the window. Pearl was skipping through until she stopped at a broad flat tomb stone and started to dance on it despite her mother’s command not to. Pearl then started to gather prickly burrs from a near by tree and arranged them in the shape of the scarlet letter and Hester made no move to remove them.

CHILLINGSWORTH

“There is no regard for authority with that child,” he remarked. “Just the other day I saw her spit water into the Governor’s face near the cattle trough. What on Earth is she? Is she the devil herself? Does she have any affection for others?”

DIMMESDALE

“None that I can see here,” answered Dimmesdale almost speaking to himself. “Whether she is capable of being a good solid human being, I do not know.”

SHOT - DESCRIPTION

Hearing voices Pearl looked up to see the two men watching her and gave a knowing mischievous smile, and threw one of her Seeing what caught Pearl’s attention Hester looks up to see the men looking down on them, they all stare at each other in silence, until Pearl stated to shout.

PEARL

“Come away, Mother! Come away or the old black man will catch you! He already has the minister in his grasp. Come away mother, or he get you to! But he will never be able to catch little Pearl!”

SHOT - DESCRIPTION

Pearl pulled her mother away singing and dancing as she went, with no regard to the deceased that lay buried around her.

CHILLINGSWORTH

“Their goes an interesting women,” remarked Chillingsworth. “She shows non of the sinfulness that you might think would be so openly obvious. Do you think she is not miserable with that scarlet letter on her chest?”

DIMMESDALE

“I do believe that could be true,” answered the minister. “But I can not speak for Hester. I did see a look of pain in her eyes, which I would have rather not seen. I do agree that it is better for the sufferer to be free to show their pain rather then covering it all up and burying it deep inside the heart.”

Diffiulty Paper- Glass Menagerie

This play was so refreshing! It was nice to take a step away from the Sccarlet Letter and my paper to read this play. Not to say that I didn't like the Scarlet Letter becuase after reading it I really appreciate the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne, and what's even better is that I understand it!! Anyways, I enjoyed this play, even when I thought that I didn't like plays I was wrong. I am hoping to get some more insight into the book, as I am a little confused on the "play text" I have not read a play like this in a class and need to brush up on the lingo. I am intrigued my Laura, she is very shy. I am wondering if something happened to her to make her that way. I love this play so far and can't wait to talk about it in class.

Rough Rough Draft

No Title Yet..

          In The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne tells a story of a women who has committed the ultimate sin, adultery. Hester is led in front on the town with an infant daughter in tow for all the towns people to see her in a public shaming, with the scarlet “A” adorning her chest. Through a series of events Hester’s long lost husband wants revenge on the man that has stolen his possession, meanwhile she is trying to raise a daughter while being shunned by the community. As a formal theorist I will be examining the central themes, how the structure impacts the tension and ambiguity, and the symbols that are used also how their meaning is affected throughout the novel.

          One of the main themes in this novel is that of sin. Sin is a reoccurring theme because its what the novel is centered around. Hester has sinned because she had an affair while he husband was suspected to have drowned at sea. One might observe that, if her husband was presumed dead and she wanted to be with someone else, then why is that a sin? Well in the puritan community you must be married to the man that you will have sexual relations with, therefore what Hester and Dimmesdale committed was sinful. The puritans feel very strongly about their beliefs, everyone must abide by the magistrates rules or they will be public humiliated, shunned and sometimes killed. “Thus, they view sin as a threat to the community that should be punished and suppressed” (Sparknotes Editors). Although, through Hester’s punishment of her sin she was able to explore herself and the world around her in a new way. She no longer need to live up the puritans standards of life and was able to make her own decisions for example, how she decided to raise Pearl. Through the ultimate sin Hester made a good life for herself and Pearl by pushing the boundaries of the puritan way.

          Another central theme that is seen throughout the novel is good versus evil. It is known that anything other then the puritan way of living is said to be evil. This would mean that Hester must be evil for not following their rules, but it she? Hester is not the one who is evil in this novel, she committed a sin in a community that only believes in the black and white therefore, she is in the wrong. The character that has some cause for concern is Roger Chillingsworth. From the beginning he has been a mysterious person who is out for revenge. He does a good job of concealing his identity in order to find the man who stole what was his. Evil is most purely seen in the form of Chillingsworth plotting out the death of Dimmesdale. there is another source of evil that is more concealed in its efforts then Chillingsworth and that’s the Black Man. Who is portrayed to be the alluring devil in this novel. Never seen but always talked about with characters such as, Mistress Hibbins and also debated if its even real. The source of this evil is in background throughout the novel and is testing the characters to see if they will stray from the conformity of the puritan life or be allured into the devils playground.

          The structure in this novel is different than that seen in most. The story is broken up into small chucks, like mini chapters that are centered around a specific topic. The way Hawthorne does this creates great tension for what will happen next. Breaking down the text in this way makes it very clear what Hawthorne finds important and wants you to know. Each small section builds on the next making the novel interesting and nail biting at the same time. There is another structural difference that Critic Stephen Railton dives into and explains what has been gained in the writing of this novel. “The Scarlet Letter was the first novel to use a women’s sexuality to explore and challenge the structures of society…” (Railton 481-500). Since doing this more writers have followed Hawthorne’s lead, making it almost impossible for anyone who hasn’t read The Scarlet Letter to know the outcome of the novel, therefore making it impossible to know the initial reactions of the contemporary reader. This is important to recognize because Hawthorne stepped away from the normal “structure” and tried something different that caught on with many other writers.

         Although the structure is laid out for easy reading in small sections there is a lot of room for ambiguity. Because the chapters are so short your often left with a feeling of wanting and reading further will only tell that Hawthorne has moved onto his next topic. Because the setting of this novel is in the mid-seventeen century the wording is difficult to read. It may take a lot of time spent re-reading and looking up words, because that is such a distraction it is often that you still don’t understand what’s being read. Some could argue that if this novel was rewritten in modern English it would appeal more to the reader. There is also the issue that Hawthorne often leaves out important events. For example, the affair between Hester and Dimmesdale and what Hester does after the novel ends. This can be very confusing for the reader, and leave you wondering why Hawthorne thought those events weren’t important.

          The most important and influential symbol in the novel is the scarlet letter “A”. In the beginning it is meant to mark Hester as an adulterer for the sin that she has committed. It is be seen by everyone so that they will know what she has done. Its very interesting the way in which she wears it. The red fabric is cut into a beautiful flowing “A” and it is sewn on with gold thread. She took the time to make it pretty, and why would she do that if it had meant she did a horrible thing. This interpretation can be thought about in many ways, lets look at a few of them. It could be that she is embracing the scarlet letter, she is living with what she has done by taking care of herself and her daughter without a man in her life. She is able to function like any other human being despite the fact that she adorns the “A”. The letter could also be something symbolic for Hester and that is why she chooses to keep wearing it, even though she no longer lives in the town. It could stand for the man she loves, Arthur Dimmesdale, and she choose she wear is so proudly to keep him close to her heart and remind her of their love. Throughout the novel the meaning changes not only to Hester but the people of the town as well. They are able to see that she is a women capable of caring for herself and her child and that she has a real talent that they could benefit from, her handy work with a needle. They symbolism of the “A” could be argued in many different ways, but we do see it shift throughout the novel from something that is to be feared to a powerful symbol of identity.

          Although Pearl is one of the main characters in the novel she is also an important symbol. “Pearl is a sort of living version of her mother’s scarlet letter” (Sparknotes Editors). She is the everyday reminder for Hester of the sin she committed. Pearl is a handful to deal with but she is not meant to be a punishment on her mother but a blessing. Pearl has all the life and passion that represents her mothers affair with Dimmesdale. Without her Hester would not have much reason to live, Pearl’s existence gives Hester a daily reminder of the love that she shared with Dimmesdale.

          Another symbol of significance is the meteor scene, bringing Hester, Dimmesdale and Pearl together. While Dimmesdale is trying to profess his sin to everyone in the dead of night, Hester and Peal find him. They see the letter “A” spelled out in the sky, which is an affirmation to for Dimmesdale telling him he should be wearing the same mark of shame as Hester. Like other symbols this one can be interpreted differently by others. For example, the townspeople thought the “A” represented Angel and the entrance of Governor Winthrop into heaven. This symbol is meant to be symbolic in the beholders eyes.

          Throughout the novel there are many themes that help to define the significance of the story, ideas that are carried throughout the entire novel. The structure of the novel can have a negative or positive impact on the reader. Hard to understand, seventeenth century text can be difficult to decipher, making it hard to stick with the novel. Although the short chapters centered around a specific topic can make it easy to stay focused on that topic. The symbols that Hawthorne uses play a key role in the concepts that he wants you to understand. The “A” has a double meaning and throughout the novel is becomes clear why Hester keeps the letter with her when it is thought to be a marker of horrible sin. At first Pearl seems to be a misfit child and a nuisance for her mother, although Peal is a test for Hester to see if she can realize the blessing which she is given. As a formalist I see the significance of the themes, structure and symbols as an underlying way for Hawthorne to tell his story. Without these very meaningful components the novel would be bland in comparison to The Scarlet Letter’s imaginative structure and placement of events. An important lesson has been learned, how things are being portrayed by others is not always how they can be and that in order to survive you must have the passion and spirit within to push through the barriers into the unknown.
　

To Work On:
-need a title
-incoorporate in text citations from the text of Scarlet Letter
-expand on a couple of sections
Let me know what you think! Thanks
　
　
　
　

Annotated Bibliography

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter and Other Writings. Norton Critical Edition. New York, London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005. Print.

1. In the beginning of the story after Hester returns to the jail she has her first encounter with Chillingsworth, which I found is interesting. He came to the jail to talk to Hester but also to treat both her and the baby. He wants her to tell him who the man is that fathered her child but Hester refuses to divulge the information. Chillingsworth has had something stolen from him, Hester was his and some man came along and took him from her and he wants revenge.
            "...Believe me, Hester, there are few things,-whether in the outward world, or to a certain depth, in the invisible sphere of thought, -few things hidden from the man who devotes himself earnestly and unreservedly to the solution of a mystery" (Hawthorne p.53).

            "I shall see him tremble. I shall feel myself shudder, suddenly and unawares. Sooner or later, he must needs be mine!" (Hawthorne p.54).


2. Hester and Pearl go to the Governors house to deliver a pair of gloves that she had made him but also to defend herself. She has heard that people are saying that she is an unfit mother and that Pearl should be taken away from her and given to someone who can handle her, Hester wants to prove that she can do it. Although the Governor is not convinced and he would like Pearl to be checked out to see if his suspicions are correct, although neither Pearl or Hester wants any part of it and The Minister, Dimmesdale stands up for her and tells them that she can take care of Pearl and advises that it would not benefit Pearl to take her away. The most sigificant part of this scene after the Minister has made his stand and Pearl does somthing out of the ordinary, shows affection. Although I don't think that she knows who Dimmesdale is exactly she does know that he is on her side and she is appreciating that.
              "Pearl, that wild and flighty little elf, stole softly towards him, and taking his hand in the grasp of both of her own, laid her cheek against it; a caress so tender, and withal so unobtrusive, that her mother, who was looking on, asked herself, Is this my Pearl?" (Hawthorne p.78).


3. I found it very ironic that Dimmesdale becomes sick and that Chillingsworth ends up being the one to take care of him and become his physician. Something about the whole scene in "The Leech" is fishy, I mean its called the leech, Hawthorne did that for a reason, just not sure exactly what it is. Anyways, I think that Chillingsworth knows that Dimmesdale has a secret and he wants to get close enough to him to figure it out, and what better than to become his physician. Chillingsworth is sneaky and up to something and these two qutoes support that.
                 "So Roger Chillingsworth-the man of skill, the kind and friendly physician-strove to go deep into his patient's bosom, delving amoung his principles, prying into his recollections, and  probing everything with a cautious touch, like a treasure-seeker in a dark cavern" (Hawthorne p.83).

                  "A man burdened with a secret should especially avoid the intimacy of his physician" (Hawthorne p.83).

Difficulty Paper #2

Now that I have started to read the Scarlet Letter the reading has become more enjoyable but I am still having some difficulty. When I'm reading their are a lot of words that I don't know. I have tried to make that a quick fix by having a dictionary by my side and looking up the words, this sounds simple but is proving to be a challenge. What I find happening is that I'm spending time looking up a unknown word and by the time I do that I have forgotten what I had just read. Therefore I'm spending a ton of time looking up words and re-reading text, its taking me forever to complete this book! I'm wondering if anyone else is having this same problem? If so, have you done anything differently or have any advise? I think that I would much more enjoy this book if I could better understand it. I think that Scott stated it best when he wrote a comment to me saying that if they rewrote this book in modern English it would be more interesting and easier to get through.

Difficulty Paper #1

Like more than half of the class I have just started reading the Scarlet Letter and it is proving to be difficult. Over the weekend I finished the Custom House, which is supposed to be an intoduction to the Scarlet Letter. After reading this I feel that I have no better understanding of what will go on and I'm hesitant to read the actually text of the Scarlet Letter. I was very confused on what was being said and had to go back and re-read sections but that still didn't make a lot of sense after doing that. I'm wondering if anyone else is having the same problems? Or if people just skipped the introduction and when straight to the Scarlet Letter? I'm going to start to read again tonight and hope that once I start that it will prove to make more sense, nothing is more frustrating than to be reading and nothing is making sense.

Final Draft- Critical Analysis The Flowers

A Transformation to Maturity

           In the novel The Flowers Sonny is a typical American teenage boy. His mom remarries and is forced to live with a step-father that he didn’t hand pick. Some would say that Sonny’s violent behavior is not normal for his age, however I would disagree and say that he is acting how most teenage boys would who live under the same circumstances. While reading this novel I have seen Sonny go through a lot of events and have been able to see how he reacts to each of them. Sonny has matured over the course of the novel, in the beginning he was confused and angry and when the novel came to a close he seemed more at peace and happy. As a reader response theorist I am going to examine Sonny’s transformation by looking at who influenced him, what decisions he made that were good and bad and also what Sonny did at the end to show his maturity had grown.
           Sonny has influences all around him and like any teenager he’s going to be influenced by them. Pink was one influence that at first I didn’t believe would be a good person for Sonny to be around. Their relationship was odd and I don’t think Sonny even understood Pink that well. Pink wanted Sonny to be his eyes and ears when he wasn’t around, and in return Pink gave him the Bel Air. In this relationship Sonny did what he was told without asking to many questions about why but I could tell Sonny was often confused with Pink’s behavior. Although in the end Sonny was not physically hurt by this man he did get a car in return. While living at The Flowers Sonny also met Cindy, who I think was a negative influence. From the beginning Sonny knew that Cindy was bad news and that what he did with her was not good. Sonny did not have any previous experience with having sex and trying drugs before he met Cindy.
           Maybe because she was a persuasive pretty girl that’s why he went along with it. Sonny knew that he would be in a lot of trouble with her husband Tino, if he found out. It took Sonny a while but he finally figured out that hanging out with Cindy would only cause him trouble. There was some negative influences but one person had a positive influence on Sonny without even knowing it. In my opinion Nica humbled Sonny, she really got to the heart of him and he realized things that he might have not other wise without her relationship. He wanted her to see him as a friend, so I think that he unconsciously stopped seeing Cindy because of Nica. Also he studied French more so he would impress her with his knowledge and make her smile. Nica was a bright spot in his life and her influence was a good one for him.
           With so many relationships that Sonny had it was hard to pick only a few to identify. Though I could not leave out Sonny’s relationship with his mother, Sylvia, who did not have a typical relationship with her son. Sylvia seemed more concerned about herself and what she was doing then her son and his whereabouts. Sonny noticed that his mom always had her mind on something else and didn’t have a lot of time for him. She also was not very affectionate and they hardly ever talked. I would say that Sylvia didn’t have any idea that Sonny liked to bowl and study French. I felt like she was a disconnected mother, worried about her life and didn’t have enough time for her son. For example, “I tried to tell my mom but she didn’t hear me. She wasn’t dressed for listening or like she had been in the kitchen for very long or like she was planning to stay there either” (Gilb 76). Sylvia not listening did bother Sonny for the most part, because in the novel he would comment on it. He seemed to have gotten his independence from Sylvia, which was a good thing because he wouldn’t have made it through the novel without it.
            Sonny’s independence gave him the freedom to make his own decisions, good or bad. In the beginning and though out most of the novel Sonny made many bad decisions. He would steal money, and once he started to do that he felt like he needed more money which lead to more stealing. Why Sonny stole is something that I don’t exactly have an answer for. One theory I have is that it made him feel secure, in case something was to happen he would have money to handle it. When Sonny realized he was beginning to get low on funds he knew he would have to find and steal more. Then he found the stash of money hidden in Cloyd’s desk and he took it. Its ironic that in the end stealing helped Sonny help someone who really needed it.
             The bad decisions didn’t stop at stealing money. Sonny’s decision to hang out with Cindy was not good either, until he figured that out Sonny was still getting caught up with her. Cindy was the older more experienced girl who could easily take advantage of someone like Sonny who didn’t know better. He did learn that being around her could easily get him killed so he began to avoid her. There is other behavior that I can only attribute to being a teenage boy who is going to lash out. For example when Sonny beat up an old man and then stole his wallet. “He was on the sidewalk and he was down and I should have walked off…I was jacked up…And then I did something I’d never done. It’s because I could see his wallet bulging from the back pocket of his pants. I reached down and took it and walked away” (Gilb 148). This really wasn’t necessary and Sonny did feel bad but he was feeling very angry and didn’t know how to deal with this anger so he lashed out.
             Although Sonny was independent it didn’t mean he made only bad decisions, he also made good ones. When Cloyd asked Sonny to do a few things around the complex Sonny did them mostly without complaint. He would sweep and clean everyone’s screens on their windows. He also painted the sign for their building, Los Flores. Although he did expect to get paid for painting the sign, Cloyd never did pay him, however Sonny did continue to clean up around the apartments. I think this work was good for Sonny, it kept him busy. Another good decision was Sonny’s relationship with Nica and how she was a good influence on him. It surprised me in the beginning that they became friends with there language barrier. Sonny is from a Hispanic background like Nica but hasn’t spoken the language as much since his grandmother past away. Although him and Nica got along just fine even if Sonny’s Spanish wasn’t as good as hers.
           Towards the very end of the novel there was a lot going on with the rioting happening. It seemed as though no one was calm and everything was in an uproar. In those last final pages Sonny was the man I had hoped he would become for Nica. Ironically in the end Nica was the one who was thought to have stolen money. She wanted to get out of there and go back to her home in Mexico, and Sonny came to her rescue. He didn’t think twice about helping Nica, he just did it. He told her to get packed, got all his money from its hiding place, he even thought of what to do about Angel. Before he left with Nica Sonny called 911 and said there was a baby alone and gave the location. They battled the streets of the boulevard together and he got Nica to the bus station safely. She was very upset and wanted him to go with her, but somehow that never did cross his mind. At least he did finally get to tell her that he loved her, even if it was in French and he got to hear her say it to him. “I wish that you would go with me, she said, because I love you, Sonny…Je t’aime, I said” (Gilb 249). Sonny then gave her all of his money without a second thought and sent her home to Mexico. I don’t think Sonny had it pre-planned to get rid of his money by way of Nica. I think he just wanted her to be saved from the life she was living and set her free. He acted like a grown mature man who could handle anything. I was very proud of how selfless Sonny had become.
             Throughout the book I was able to see the changes in Sonny that made him into a more mature young man. I looked at who influenced Sonny, the decisions he made and how that effected him and finally how he had grown up over the course of a short time. In responding to this novel I wish that I could say that the book tied up more loose ends but it didn’t do that, it left you wondering about what happens to Sonny after Nica is gone. What I did find to be a very good ending was that Nica was saved, because Sonny was able to pull through for the one he loved in the end.