Scarlet Letter Questions

1. The purpose for this introduction is to build the foundation of the book. It helps tell you what time the book is in as well as the place so you can visualize and read with more understanding. It also gives an idea of how the author writes and how you will have to interpret the book. This gives the reader a head start, so to speak, on the book itself. They now know where things are placed in time and they can better relate to the things going on. It is a better understanding so now they can just flow right into the book.

A reason for the foundation is to give it a flowing introduction. Instead of just going straight into what the idea is, it starts off with a story of another person that leads up to the tale of the woman. There is a good mindset of the things going on and you can just slide right into the story. Confusion can be kept down as well now that you are aware of where things are. This makes the book easier to read. It also adds to the enjoyment of the book. The foundation is pretty much telling you that “this is where it is and what’s going on now and how it will lead to the story.”

2. Hawthorne (I believe) made the adjustment saying, “I had ceased to be a writer of tolerably poor tales and essays, and had become a tolerably good Surveyor of the Customs,” (Hawthorne 37). He was unable to write things like essays since he had become a surveyor. Also he admitted to saying that his imagination was like “a tainted mirror” (Hawthorne 33). He couldn’t imagine or reflect on what he read like he used to. This is probably due to all of his nonfiction writing.

What I realized about his writing was that it was a little easier to understand when he ran across the diary. He also lessened his talk about the Custom House and focused more on personal descriptions based off of himself, his ancestors, or the person who claimed the red letter A and her ancestors. The setting was changed from this “Custom House” figure to a dark, poorly lit room, an accurate setting for the dark secrets that were revealed at the time. He began describing the setting with words like “cold spirituality of the moonbeams,” (referring to the beams reflecting onto the floor) or “dim coal-fire,” (Hawthorne 35). But as I said, this is only my opinion.

3. This will change the perspective of his writing. Now instead of focusing on things like the Custom House he talks about other things. His speaks less political or like a businessman and more like he’s telling a story now. His angle of focus has changed and gives us an idea on how the story is really going to be told. It can also prepare us for the shift from the introduction to the main story.

Now that we are exposed to a sudden change in his writing we can be ready for it, if he chooses to do it again. There will be less confusion if he goes from the story of the scarlet letter to the history of it. It’s easier to follow along with the storyline if you know something unexpected is coming. Doing this in the intro allows us to prepare so that we can stay focused when it happens.