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Symbolism in The Scarlet
Letter
Kailee Izat and Kayla
Lake
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Prompt:

A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents
something of that creates a range of associations beyond
itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify
meaning, or enlarge literal meaning.

Select two pieces, focusing on one symbol for each, write an
essay analyzing how each symbol functions in the work and
what it reveals about the characters of themes of the work as
a whole.
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Introduction
 The
Scarlet Letter depicts the errors in
Puritan society through symbols that
represent facets of Transcendentalism.
Nathaniel Hawthorne uses these symbols
through the struggles of a young exiled
Puritan woman.
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Thesis
The
overarching symbol in
The Scarlet Letter” is Hester’s
forced adornment of the letter
“A.” Hester Prynn changes
through out her journey, as
does the A; thus leading to her
eventual liberation.
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Body Paragraph 1

Topic Sentence: Initially,
Hester’s A stands for her
conviction, representing the
word “Adultery.”

“Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the
scarlet letter flaming on her breast,--at her, the child of honorable
parents—at her, the mother of a babe, that would hereafter be a
woman,--at her, who had once been innocent,--as the figure, the
body, the reality of sin.”
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Conclusion Sentence:
However, the initial conviction
spurs a revolutionary change
inside of Hester.
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Why we chose this quote:
•This
quote represents the epitome of
Hester’s condition.
•Within
the structure of Puritan society her
crime of adultery will always be well
known or recognized
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Body Paragraph 2
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Topic Sentence: As Hester’s
punishment endures, the A
begins its transformation.

“Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should
be the scene of her earthly punishment; and so, perchance, the torture of her
daily shame would at length purge her soul, and work out another purity than
which she had lost; more saint-like because the result of martyrdom.”

“Many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification.
They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s
strength.”
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Conclusion Sentence:
Through chapters like “Hester
At Her Needle”, the reader
witnesses the metamorphosis
of the A to it’s eventual, true
definition.
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Why we chose this quote:
•This
quote represents the change of
Hester within herself and her mind set.
•Revelation
•It
reveals that through her exile, she finds
truth with in herself—a true concept of
Transcendelist thinking.
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Body Paragraph 3
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Topic Sentence: At the end of
the novel, and the completion
of Hester’s transformation the
A finally reveals its true
meaning—”Able”
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“She had wandered, without rule or guidance, into a moral
wilderness.. Her intellect and heart had their home, as it were, in
desert places, where she roamed as freely as the wild Indian in his
woods. The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other
women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been
her teachers-stern and wild ones- and they had made her strong…”
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Conclusion sentence:
Hester’s exile liberates her
and separates her from the ills
of society.
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Why we chose this quote:
•This
quote shows Hester’s realization of
herself and the true meaning of the letter
A.
•In
this quote, she looks upon the positive
aspects of her forced adornment rather
than the negative.
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Conclusion:

The Letter A represents the cycle of transformation from
conformity to liberation/acceptance
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Repeat the three changes:
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Adultery
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Able
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Acceptance
The End!
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