Scarlet Letter Analysic- Form, Plot, Tone, Essay - 607 Words

Scarlet Letter Analysis Form, Structure and Plot: The structure that Hawthorne puts the Scarlet Letter is very tight, and is in essentially three parts, each revolving around the scaffold. The first scaffold scene, Hester confesses her sin of adultery to the crowd in the light of day. The second scaffold scene takes place in the middle of the book at night; it is the climax of the plot. Dimmesdale climbs onto the scaffold, and asks for Hester and Pearl to join him. This is not a confession, as there are no witnesses, except for Chillington. The third scaffold scene is at the end of the novel. Here, Dimmesdale is on the scaffold, with Hester and Pearl. It is light out, and they are speaking to a crowd. Here, Dimmesdale confesses his sin.†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"His face darkened with some powerful emotion, which, nevertheless, he instantaneously controlled by an effort of his will, that, save at a singly moment, its expression might have passed for calmness.† The majority of the sentence i s secondary structure. There are two primary- â€Å"his face darkened† and â€Å"he controlled.† The primary structure allows us to understand what is happening at the moment, while the secondary allows us to see an image of what Hawthorne was trying to get across- cynicism. With the first part of the sentence- â€Å"his face darkened with some powerful emotion†, he can imagine his expression growing into a scowl, the air around him darkening as he meets eyes with Hester. Tone: The tone in The Scarlet Letter is moralizing, impassioned, formal, and skeptical. The narrator of the story pretends to be unbiased, although it is blatantly obvious he does not think highly of Puritans. He often spends one to two paragraphs discussing the problems he has with Puritan society, or a law that had effect at the time. Bibliography Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet letter. New York: Barnes Noble Childrens Classics, 2001. Print. SparkNotes: The Scarlet Letter: Context. SparkNotes: Todays Most Popular Study Guides. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Oct. 2011. . The Scarlet Letter Hypocrisy Quotes. Shmoop: Homework Help, Teacher Resources, Test Prep. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Oct. 2011.