Mr.

Yu-Chen Shih

Mrs.Slavinga

American Literature Period 5

28 September 2007

The Empty Sin

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, three characters are brought together by fate in a situation that determines the best and the worst in each individual. The three main characters committed ignominious sins throughout the novel: Hester Prynne's sin for committing adultery with a secret lover, was regarded severely by the Puritans; Arthur Dimmesdale, the secret lover of Hesters', suffers extensively from his own guilt over his sin; and the greatest sinner of all, Roger Chillingworth, opened himself up to hatred and the vigorous desire for revenge on Dimmesdale and his wife, Hester. stop using semicolons everywhere. They are used to connect two sentences together. You can't put a semicolon and then just a word after that.

Years after Hester Prynne sails from Europe to the Americas, she loses hope in the promised arrival of her husband, Roger Chillingworth. Suffering from loneliness, Hester tries to fill this emptiness by falling in love with Dimmesdale, which later results in a sinful love affair. what do you mean a sinful love affair? How do I know? Proof? Describe what happened, and add some quotes if see fit The crime of adultery was often punished by death, but the punishment given to Hester was to endure a public shaming on the scaffold for three hours, followed by wearing a scarlet letter "A" on her chest for the rest of her life in the town. However, Hester's punishment gave her insight, compassion, and made her a good mother for her daughter, Pearl. what insight? Why did it change her? How it changed her? What did she learn from this incident?

add transitions between paragraphs. Don't jump from topic to topic. Show why they are connected. I only added meanwhile because I am assuming that the two stories happened at the same time. If I am wrong, then choose another transition word/phrase. Meanwhile, Dimmesdale, being the town's priest, realizes the extremity of his sin and constantly torments himself over his own guilt, resulting in strange behaviors. "...not however, like them, in order to purify the body and render it the fitter medium of celestial illumination, but rigorously, and until his knees trembled beneath him, as an act of penance." (p.141) why is the quote here? Add transition before AND after the quote. Show why you added the quote. Who said that quote? What was going on while the quote was said? Dimmesdale is the most pitiful character; he whips himself, yet so afraid that he cannot confess his sin.

Again, this is another jump of topic without warning. Add transition word/ phrase here Roger Chillingworth, a man who carries the greatest sin among the three, was thought lost at sea for three years, but then returns home and finds his wife punished for adultery. Through seeing her in her ignominy, Chillingworth transforms into a coldhearted man, with no other goals than to punish both his wife and her secret lover, Dimmesdale. '''And what am I now?' demanded he, looking into her face, and permitting the whole evil within him to be written on his features. ''I have already told thee what I am! A fiend! Who made me so?'''