English 11Puritan Perspective and Literary Techniques in

The Scarlet Letter

Warm-UpIntroduction to the Scarlet Letter

The Custom HouseModern Connections

Homework

Warm-Up:

Student Outcomes:•Understand Hawthorne’s purpose in writing The Scarlet Letter.•Identify key Puritan ideals discussed in the text.•Examine society’s involvement in the creation or laws.•Examine society’s role in communication social expectations.

What are your thoughts on the term punishment? What makes a punishment fitting? How do you know?

Puritan Beliefs – Quick Review

• Theocracy: religious and political law are the same• Predestination: God has predetermined who is saved and

who is damned•God has a plan for all humankind. Good will prevail over

evil, and Christ will defeat Satan. •Goals: cleanse society of corrupt, sinful actions/vices and

experience “conversion” to lead a righteous life• Predestination

• Innate “depravity” : humans are innately sinful (original sin)• Unconditional “election”: Salvation in reserved for those chosen by God • “Irresistible Grace”: Good works do not save an individual.” An “elect” group of

“saints” possess God’s saving grace

Questions to Explore

• Why did followers of Puritanism accept this doctrine? • Need for order, certainty, spiritual security

• Effects on Puritan lives? • Committed to shaping society and government into what God would

desire- Strove to live godly lives—disciplined, sin-free- Living a righteous life was the EFFECT of being one of God’s chosen- To ensure salvation (not to gain or earn), Puritans attempted to display

signs of purity as evidence of God’s saving grace.

• Within the text, pay close attention to how Hawthorne challenges Puritan beliefs?

Background Information

The Scarlet Letter: Introduction

What happens when a private sin

becomes a public crime?

Can you think of any examples of this in modern society?

The Scarlet Letter: Introduction

Perhaps hidden suffering

is even worse than public shame.

The 411 on The Scarlet Letter

•Set in 17th Century Boston•Puritan code of life•Main characters•Hester Prynne• Pearl Prynne• Arthur Dimmesdale• Roger Chillingworth

•Novel spans a total of seven years•The Scarlet Letter as a SATIRE

The Scarlet Letter: Background

Those considered sinners were publicly—and harshly—punished, as an example to others.

Seven deadly Sins

Also as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a classification of objectionable vices

These particular bad habits are called the seven deadly sins because according to the Catholicism, they’re mortal sins – sins that kill the life of grace.

Modern 7 Deadly Sins

The Catholic Church has come out with a list of seven new modern day sins - 1,500 years after announcing the original Seven Deadly Sins

1.Genetic modification 2.Human experimentations3.Polluting the environment 4.Social injustice 5.Causing poverty6.Financial gluttony 7.Taking drugs

According to the Catholic Church, a person who commits a mortal sin risks burning in hell unless it's absolved through confession and penitence.

Do you think that the addition are valid?

What is a guilty pleasure?A guilty pleasure is something one enjoys and considers pleasurable despite the feeling guilt for enjoying it.

The Guilt is involved is something simple fear of others discovering ones embarrassing tastes.

Entertainment, fashion,video gamesmovies, Musicjunk food

The Scarlet Letter: Big Question

Hester goes to jail for an action that, in our society, usually would remain private.

• What kinds of wrongdoing do you think should be punished publicly?

• What kinds should remain private for the people involved?

The Scarlet Letter: Big Question

Motivated by love and loyalty, Hester keeps a painful secret.

• What kinds of secrets should you keep?

• When might it be better to reveal a friend’s secret, even though that person will be angry with you?

Literary Devices •Diction•Descriptive Details• Imagery• Irony•Characterization•Figurative Language•Allusion•Symbols

Symbols:

Something that, although of interest in its own right, stands for or suggests something larger and more complex• The Scaffold• Roger Chillingworth• Pearl• The Scarlet Letter• The Forest• The Brook

Themes:• Consider questions, rather than answers • Psychological novel – What aspects of human nature does

Hawthorne focus on? What do we learn or observe about those aspects?

HomeworkRead Chapters 1 – 4 for Monday’s Class