For the final essay, I have chosen to complete option 1. I chose option 1 mainly because it seems, not necessarily easier, but more structured and familiar, especially after doing essay 3 on Frankenstein.
I chose The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne as my primary text. I had originally planned to do Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, but before I could get started with reading it the idea of using The Scarlet Letter occurred to me. It is a book that I had vague recollections of reading in high school and remember it being an enjoyable book and one with plenty of symbolism and themes throughout.
After reading it again, I have not been disappointed. There are many themes in the book. Law and criminality, religion, and hypocrisy are a few. I have been compelled by the themes of human nature and inward and outward manifestations of it for most of this semester and it doesn’t seem to be any different for this paper. As I read the book, the thing that grabbed me repeatedly was the theme of secrets and guilt and how different ways of handling these things can manifest in outward ways and affect the course of one’s life. As of right now, I hope to illustrate how this is a story that demonstrates the destructive forces of secrets and guilt.
For my research, I have several books that are compilations of essays on Hawthorne’s work that I checked out from the library. I am only now getting the chance to start flipping through them so I am hoping that I will be able to find the support I need for my idea. I am also looking at the databases on the library website, mainly LCO and LION. My search terms have been Hawthorne, Scarlett Letter, secrets, hypocrisy, guilt. I have not had much luck with the term secrets so I am trying different things and keeping an open mind to different ideas.
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Sounds like a great choice. I too have read The Scarlet Letter, and loved it. It is an intense book. I chose to use the writings of Edgar Allen Poe. At first I was thinking of doing option 2, but I changed my mind. There is just so much out there right now with Vampires and monsters (Twilight comes to mind, that it all seems a bit boring. I have looked at several other essay options posts, and many students have picked option 2 and vampires.
ReplyDeleteim glad you chose this book cause i remember reading this my junior year of highschool and i even thouht of doing it for this project as well but i ended up choosing a different route :). i look foreward to reading your paper and see how you reflect on the book.
ReplyDeleteI have not read The Scarlet Letter but heard it is very good. I too was not intrigued by option #2. I agree with you that option 1 is familiar and we did get some experience with Frankenstein. I'm interested to read your essay and wish you good luck with!
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