"The Scarlet Letter" tells the story of Hester Prynne's sin and all that came about from her daughter's being born because of adultery. The Puritan society, Dimmesdale's, and Hester's story takes place in a strict, hypocritical, and judgmental one. Their adulterous sin was one the puritans believed should have been punished by death. However, only Hester was punished as Dimmesdale kept his part of the sin a secret. Hester was forced to wear a scarlet letter "A" on all her clothing, as a symbol for her sin and shame. On the other side, Dimmesdale stayed away and was not punished at all. But, as...

• Word Count: 854
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The rose bush, by a strange chance, has been kept alive in history; but whether it had merely survived out of the stern old wilderness, so long after the fall of the gigantic pines and oaks that originally over-shadowed it, -or whether, as there is fair authority for believing, it had sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Anne Hutchinson, as she entered the prison-door, -we shall not take upon us to determine." In The Scarlet Letter, author, Nathaniel Hawthorne effectively sets the mood for this dismal novel. The ugliness and rust in the prison and cemetery seems like the last place for...

• Word Count: 561
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate