Dialectical Journals In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'

Mrs. Norrell
AP English 3-3rd
10 October 2011
Dialectical Journals: The Scarlet Letter Source | Quotation | Analysis | Ch. 1P. 45-46 Ch. 1P. 46Ch. 2P. 49 Ch. 2p.56Ch. 3P. 57Ch. 3P. 59Ch. 4P. 65Ch. 4p. 69Ch. 5P.73Ch. 5P. 74Ch. 6P. 90Ch. 7P. 91Ch. 7P.94Ch. 8P. 98-99Ch. 8P. 103Ch. 9P. 107-108Ch. 10P. 119Ch. 10P. 123Ch. 12P. 138Ch. 14P. 154 | “Like all that pertains to crime, it seemed never to have known a youthful era. Before this ugly edifice, and between it and the wheel-track of the street, was a grass-plot, much overgrown with burdock, pig-weed, apple-peru, and such unsightly vegetation, which evidently found something congenial in the soil that had so early borne the black flower of civilized society, a prison. But, on…show more content…
Hawthorne shows that Hester regrets the baby, and everything that has happened and that this would mess up her life drastically. Hester touched her finger to the scarlet A “to assure herself that the infant and the shame were real.” This foreshadows how she will view herself for the rest of the book, and throughout her entire life. 1. When he first arrived in the marketplace, before Hester Prynne saw him—he had fixed his eyes on her. His initial glance was careless, like a man used to focusing on his own thoughts, who only values the outside world for its relation to his own mind. But soon his gaze became sharp and penetrating. Horror slithered over his features like a fast-moving snake, pausing only for a moment to show its many coils. His face darkened with a powerful emotion which, nonetheless, he instantly controlled with his will. Except for that single moment of emotion, his expression could have passed for calmness. 2. Condemnatory-Strong disapproval or angry/bitter. This passage can be considered to have a Condemnatory or bitter tone due to the fact that Chillingworth sees Hester up on the stand. His face was “darkened with some powerful emotion.” This shows his anger towards…show more content…
This makes Hester think for a split secondthat pearl may be controlled by the devil, but then it fades away. 1. There was another reason, more important than the delivery of his embroidered gloves, that Hester wanted to see this powerful man. She had learned that some of the leading townspeople, favoring stricter rules in religion and government, wanted to take Pearl away from her. These good people, believing Pearl to be demon child (and with good reason), argued that their concern for Hester’s soul required them to remove this obstacle from her path to salvation. 2. Petty- concerned with narrow, small ideas. Hawthorne creates a petty tone in this passage because Hester hears about people among her community that wants to “derive her child from her.” Hester becomes concerned and thoughts flow through her mind, due to the fact she is scared her child might be taken away. Therefore Hester decides to take gloves to Governor Bellingham’s house, to have an excuse to talk to him about the things she has been hearing. 3. Slippery Slope- The fallacy of argumentation argues that one thing inevitably leads to another. Hester is confused