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The Scarlet Letter

Hey, at least there's no witch burnings in this one.

  • Course Length: 3 weeks
  • Course Type: Short Course
  • Category:
    • High School
    • English
    • Literature

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A Puritan colony in the 1600s may not be your idea of a good time (to be honest, it's not the Puritans' idea of a good time either), but we have to give these folks some credit. They really knew how to turn an unforgiving New England winter into…an unforgiving extended public shaming and/or execution.

Don't believe us? Check out this handy-dandy Puritanical checklist:

  • A woman caught dancing in the forest, in the middle of the night, under a full moon? Burn the witch!
  • A woman moves into town, without a husband or father in tow to keep her honest? Better keep an eye on her.
  • A woman has a baby…but her husband's been AWOL for two years? Jail the adulteress! Bedazzle her clothing with the mark of shaaame.

And although we wouldn't want to live there or visit (we're fans of full-moon forest-dancing ourselves), we sure can’t help but embrace the drama. Hester Prynne, our protagonist and scorned woman-about-town, has committed the ultimate Puritan no-no: she's fallen in love, mothered an oops-baby, and refused to name the father—leading the whole town to believe she's not actually sorry. For the next seven years, she's forced to wear a scarlet "A" on her clothes, and is totally ostracized no matter how goodly she behaves.

Sound like a can't-look-but-can't-look-away premise? Well, wait until her long-lost husband comes to town. Wait until you find out who the father is.

Better yet, read the book to find out if and how Hester gets through it all. Because ultimately, The Scarlet Letter is about how one woman resists the attempts of her Puritan peers to break her, finds a sense of morality more nuanced than anything they can muster up, and earns her salvation. How does a woman go from Scarlet A to Scarlet Yea?

In this course, we'll

  • learn about life in the Massachusetts Bay circa the 1600s (historical context FTW!), and analyze the ins-and-outs of Hawthorne's critique of Puritan morality. He's not, uh, fond of it.
  • conduct in-depth and ongoing character analyses in light of such considerations as plot structure, thematic content, and authorial choice. 
  • root for Hester, hiss at Chillingworth, fantasize about shaking Dimmesdale by the shoulders, and generally get way too emotionally invested in a bunch of fictional characters.

Best of all, we'll come away feeling much better about modern life, when people are a little less nosy, and no one's trying to appliqué angry letters to your wardrobe because you accidentally dinged their car.

Unit Breakdown

1 The Scarlet Letter - The Scarlet Letter

Hester had to brave the Puritan wilderness for seven long years, but we'll be in and out in just three short weeks. We'll hit key deets such as historical context, authorial intent, major themes (sin versus salvation; morality versus hypocrisy; guilt versus action), character analyses, and symbolism. It's an ELA buffet up in this short novel course, and, mercifully, there are no Puritans around to accuse us of over-indulging.


Sample Lesson - Introduction

Lesson 1.09: No Party Like a Puritan Party

Is it a good thing or a bad thing that Hester's attempted escape (and presumably, Dimmesdale's, too, unless Mistress Hibbins has spooked him past repair) is taking place around the same time as, oh, the new Governor taking office?

On the one hand, everyone's celebrating Election Sunday, which perhaps means that Hester, Dimmesdale, and Pearl can make a cleaner break while the Puritans are blissed out post-party. (Uh, we don't really know what Puritans did for fun at parties. Churn butter?)

On the other hand, the last time the Puritans gathered all together at the same, they were pelting Hester with tomatoes (metaphorically speaking). And it's a little weird that Hawthorne is suddenly refocusing the plot in the middle of town, bringing all the townspeople together, and…showing us to the theme of Puritan revelry? That just doesn't make sense this late in the game, er, novel. It's not a theme we care about, and we don't think it's a theme Hawthorne cares about either.

Wethinks this is all an authorial ruse—Hawthorne is showing us the calm before the inevitable storm. And sure enough, Pearl, the ever-perceptive elf-child, is extremely uncomfortable with the whole situation.

Well, mostly she's discomfited that all these dour sourpusses (read: her neighbors) are suddenly dressed up in their Sunday finest and pretending to know how to get down. What, they couldn't even shell out for a piñata (it's fine—Puritan piñatas are probably filled with toothbrushes or hard candies, anyway).

But it's a pretty clever device, nonetheless—to use Pearl to remind us that, even when things look festive and, dare we say, normal, nothing's ever all right in Puritanville.

Sample Lesson - Reading

Reading 1.1.09: Summer Loving, Had Me Some Fun

First things first: the title of this next chapter, "The New England Holiday," means holiday, as in "day of celebration," and in this case, that's Election Sunday (we get it; we really believe in representative government, too). In other words, this doesn't mean holiday as in "weekend in Belize." No, in this chapter, Hester, Dimmesdale, and Pearl don't make off into some alpine hinterlands, finally free from the unbearable burden of Puritan moral expectations.

In fact, we find them even more firmly smack dab in the middle of the Puritan experience; they're all attending the Election Sunday celebrations, after all. Dimmesdale kind of has to be there, to give his official sermon (it's a big deal). But Hester going down there, too, might come as a bit of a surprise—she's never been much for revelry or town togetherness (obvs, we can't blame here), especially now that she's planning on vamoosing.

Maybe she wants to experience this awful world one last time, before she leaves it all behind? Or maybe she wants to have a moment with Dimmesdale—but, no, he's ignoring her. It's like their meeting the forest meant nothing.

Pearl points this out to her. Astute kid.

Check out Chapter 21, titled "The New England Holiday." Then take a gander at our chapter summary to make sure you haven't missed something totes important.

Sample Lesson - Activity

Activity 1.09a: There's a Chillingworth in the Air

We don't know about you, but we're actually kind of glad that we finally know how Chillingworth's going to foil Hester and Dimmesdale's plan—all of that foreshadowing with no solid twist or reveal? Our stomachs were starting to hurt from the tension.

We didn't know for sure that Chillingworth knew about Hester and Dimmesdale's plan, but we know enough about Hawthorne, as a writer, to guess that Chillingworth would play a role in this final act.

And Hawthorne sure does a great job of setting up the tension throughout this chapter—even under the guise of Puritan party-time. Let's take a closer look, shall we?

Read each of the following excerpts carefully. Then write two to three sentences for each excerpt, explaining how it contributes to an overall sense that Hester and Dimmesdale's plan will not go off without a hitch. Is it an example of foreshadowing? Is a character showing resistance, or suggesting they're having second thoughts about the plan? You tell us.

  1. …for one last time more, encountered it freely and voluntarily, in order to convert what had so long been agony into a kind of triumph. "Look your last on the scarlet letter and its wearer!"—the people's victim and lifelong bond-slave, as they fancied her, might say to them. "Yet a little while, and she will be beyond your reach! A few hours longer and the deep, mysterious ocean will quench and hide for ever the symbol which ye have caused to burn on her bosom!"

    We'll help you get started with this one:

    Here, Hawthorne stops to give us an inner picture of Hester's desperate excitement and hope that she can finally break free of the burdens of her life. But the fact that she's celebrating already makes us a bit us nervous, and gives us the sense that Hawthorne might pull the rug out from under her…

    Your turn.

  2. Nor were it an inconsistency too improbable to be assigned to human nature, should we suppose a feeling of regret in Hester's mind, at the moment when she was about to win her freedom from the pain which had been thus deeply incorporated with her being.

  3. "What a strange, sad man is he!" said the child, as if speaking partly to herself. "In the dark nighttime he calls us to him, and holds thy hand and mine, as when we stood with him on the scaffold yonder! And in the deep forest, where only the old trees can hear, and the strip of sky see it, he talks with thee, sitting on a heap of moss! And he kisses my forehead, too, so that the little brook would hardly wash it off! But, here, in the sunny day, and among all the people, he knows us not; nor must we know him! A strange, sad man is he, with his hand always over his heart!"

  4. Thus the Puritan elders in their black cloaks, starched bands, and steeple-crowned hats, smiled not unbenignantly at the clamour and rude deportment of these jolly seafaring men; and it excited neither surprise nor animadversion when so reputable a citizen as old Roger Chillingworth, the physician, was seen to enter the market-place in close and familiar talk with the commander of the questionable vessel.

  5. After parting from the physician, the commander of the Bristol ship strolled idly through the market-place; until happening to approach the spot where Hester Prynne was standing, he appeared to recognise, and did not hesitate to address her.

  6. "What mean you?" inquired Hester, startled more than she permitted to appear.

    "Have you another passenger?"

Expository Writing Rubric - 25 Points

OutstandingProficientDevelopingNeeds Improvement
Evidence / Support

All support is clearly and logically connected to the topic. Examples, evidence, and details are thorough and relevant with effective explanation.

(10)

All support about the main topic is relevant. Examples, evidence, and details are explained.

(9)

Most support is related to the topic. Examples, evidence, or details are given.

(8)

Insufficient examples, evidence, or details. Support may be irrelevant.

(7)
Content Understanding

All content is accurate and analysis is interesting and sophisticated.

(10)

All content is accurate.

(9)

May contain minor errors.

(8)

Major errors.

(7)
Style

Language is clear and interesting. Enhances presentation of information. No errors.

(5)

Language is clear and appropriate to topic. Minor spelling or grammatical errors.

(4)

Language is occasionally unclear, but meaning is generally understandable. Frequent spelling/grammar errors that do not impede comprehension.

(4)

Language use makes writing very difficult to understand. Frequent spelling or grammar errors that impede comprehension.

(3)

Sample Lesson - Activity

  1. Which of the following is true of Hester?

  2. Which of the following is true of Pearl in this chapter?

  3. How does Hester feel about leaving town?

  4. Why are the townspeople gathered in the market place?

  5. How does Pearl describe Dimmesdale?

  6. Which of the following terms does Hawthorne use to describe the people present at the market place?

  7. Which of the following forms of entertainment appear in the market place?