What would you do if you found out that a friend

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• What would you do if you found out that a
  friends bf/gf was going out behind your friends
  back?

-What would you do if you knew that your friend
was going out with someone behind his/her bf/gfs
back?
-What would you do if you found out that your
bf/gf was going out with someone behind your back?
-Would you say that cheating is the worst thing a
person can do to his/her significant other? What
else would rank up there with it?
-Do you agree with the statement Once a cheater,
always a cheater? Explain why
-How common is adultery in our culture? Who
cheats moremen or women? Why do you say so?
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EVERYTHING You Need to Know Before Reading

• The SCARLET LETTER

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by Nathaniel Hawthorne
(The book is by Hawthornenot this slide show.
In case you were wondering)
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About the author

• Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in Salem,
  Mass.
• His father was a sea captain and descendent of
  John Hawthorne, one of the judges in the Salem
  witch trials of 1692. As an adult Hawthorne
  showed much interest in the Puritan period in
  America.
• His father died when Nathaniel was four years
  old. Nathaniel grew up in seclusion with his
  widowed mother.
• He wrote The Scarlet Letter in 1850. He also
  wrote, House of Seven Gables, as well as many
  other works, including several well known short
  stories.

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• Hawthorne and Herman Melville (thats the Moby
  Dick guy) found in mother nature and human
  nature radical contradictions NOT accounted for
  by other writers of their era. They encountered
  life in its tragic dimension and understood evil
  to be inherent in life.

-Think back to our journal entry last weekis
evil a part of all of us from birth? Do most
people share similar struggles? Are we all
capable of the same wrong deeds?
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Characteristics of his work

• Used symbolism to great effect (seriouslyits
  everywhere)
• Sin, pain, evil exist

• Holds readers attention through dread of a
  series of terrible possibilities

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Inspiration for The Scarlet Letter

• The author tells about his life working at the
  Custom House in Salem Massachusetts.
• During his time there, he discovers some records
  in the attic and begins to piece together the
  story of Hester Prynne, an adulterous woman in
  Puritan Salem.
• The Scarlet Letter is his account of the story
  gathered from the documents he found.

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The Story
What happens when a private sin
becomes a public crime?
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The Scarlet Letter Introduction
In Puritan New England a young woman named Hester
Prynne gives birth to a baby girl.
Awwwwwww.
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Theres Just One Problem
Whos My DADDY?
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Talk of the Town
Hesters older husband has been missing for some
time now.
When Hester becomes pregnant, everyone knows he
cannot be the father.
Hesters pregnancy become THE scandal of Boston.
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Theres One Question Burning in the Mind of EVERY
PURITAN in Town
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The town punishes Hester harshly. Partly because
of her sin of adultery, and partly because of her
refusal to confess who the father of her child is.
First, they imprison her.
Then, they condemn her to wear a scarlet letter A
for the rest of her life.
And they also require her to stand on the town
scaffold.
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Hester is treated as an outcast. She becomes the
living symbol of sin and shame.
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Adding to the scandal of Hesters sin, the
townspeople still have no idea who the father of
Hesters baby is. The secrecy and her refusal to
point a finger keeps her the target of scorn.
Her lover, whomever he is, seems to escape
punishment.
Or does he?
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In this text, Hawthorne plays with the question
of whats worse
HIDDENSUFFERING
PUBLICSHAME
-OR-
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Some Historical Info.
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The Scarlet Letter Background
Persecuted in England, the Puritans came to North
America to form their own communities.
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The Scarlet Letter Background
Life in the Colonies was harsh,
but it gave the Puritans the opportunity to
escape persecution and form a society based on
their own religious ideals.
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The Scarlet Letter Background
The setting of The Scarlet Letter is Boston in
the 1640s.
Boston had recently been founded by about one
thousand English Puritans, led by John Winthrop.
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The Scarlet Letter Background
Puritans sought the freedom to live by their own
beliefs.
However, the Puritan leaders did not tolerate
religious beliefs that differed from their own.
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The Scarlet Letter Background
As for personal freedom
every member of the community was held to strict
standards of behavior.
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The Scarlet Letter Background
In a Puritan community such as Hesters, no
aspect of life was truly private.
People kept a close watch on their neighbors.
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The Scarlet Letter Background
Those considered sinners were publiclyand often
harshlypunished, as an example to others.
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As we begin reading the story, pay attention to
how the culture and beliefs of the Puritan
society influence the story differently than
perhaps if the tale had taken place in a more
modern American society. Also, consider how we
might share similar aspects with the Puritan
culture and treatment of the situation.