Tuesday, March 22, 2011
"Higher - Order" Thinking Questions about the Novel
Dear students, I apologize for not having the blog assignment up before now. I was having my own technological difficulties! If you can, bring in your answers to the "higher-order" thinking questions you generated in last class. We will have another chance at this assignment for homework tonight.
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The question that i chose to answer was, "Why would the stranger not want Hester to reveal the name of the father."
ReplyDeleteThe stranger does not want Hester to release the name of the father of Pearl because as it turns out, he is the husband to Hester. He does not want Hester to release the name of the father so that he can seek the man out and gain revenge upon him for having an affair with his wife.
question: why would the stranger not want Hester to reveal the name of the father.
ReplyDeleteThe stranger would want Hester to withhold the name of the father because he is Hesters husband, so he wants to personally get his revenge on the father of the child. Chillingworth does not want to get the legal system involved because he want to take matters into his own hands.
As both Luc and Brady chose, I also chose the question; Why would the stranger not want Hester to reveal the name of the father?
ReplyDeleteThe reason that I believe the stranger would not want Hester to reveal the name of the man she had the affair with because as we later find out the stranger, Roger Chillingworth, is her husband. Being Hester's husband he would end up standing out in the public as well. Chillingworth also wants to be able to find the man and confront him himself without having others do it for him. By Hester releasing the name the father could either run away from the town or others could get to him before Chillingwoth is able to get his revenge.
What is Hawthorne's opinion on using shame as a punishment?
ReplyDeleteIn the book so far Hawthorne thinks that shame is an immoral punishment that is excessive for the crime. When Hawthorne wrote the Scarlet Letter he used Hester as an example to show the excessively harsh and long lasting effects of using shame as a punishment. Not only does Hester suffer from the shame but her innocent child also suffers because she is ostracized form other children.
Another Question
Is Pearl born an innocent child or an evil child?
The child was born un-baptized and born as the result of a sin although children are said to be born innocent and Hawthorne originally described the child as being innocent and good looking.
As Luc, Staci and Brady, I also chose the question: Why would the stranger not want Hester to reveal the name of Pearl's father?
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of the above answers. I think that the stranger personally wants to take his revenge out on the father. He wants revenge not only on Hester for breaking his heart (even though he knew that she didn't love him when he married her)but also on the man who has shamed her. His jealousy of the man may also have something to do with his desire for revenge.He also does not want to be ridiculed or questioned.
I also chose the question "Why would the stranger not want Hester to reveal the name of Pearl's father?" I agree with all of the answers. I think that he wants to find and punish the man himself without anyone in the town's help. I think he is jealous Hester would have a child with this man instead of him, even though they were married. I think he feels she has degraded and disrespected him and he wants to get his payback. I think he might also feel that if she reveals the name of the father of the child people would also demand the name of her former husband and Chillingworth does not want his name revealed to the town.
ReplyDeleteI also chose "Why would the stranger not want Hester to reveal the name of Pearl's father?" and I agree with Michelle that the stranger wants his revenge with the father to be personal, without any one involved. He tells Hester to not say anything about their relationship which leads me to believe that he wants to get to the father, before the father knows that he is coming. I think the stranger wants to stand up for his own dignity, and not give the impression that he accepts the adultery. However, I believe he feels that Hester is being ridiculed enough by the people in society so he is better off seeking the father for revenge not Hester.
ReplyDeleteThe question that I chose was "Why would the stranger not want Hester to reveal the name of Pearl's father." Many of the above ideas are have very good points and thoughts, but what I personally believe the answer is to this question is that Chillingworth does not want others to know the identity of this man, because they would then intrude on his personal plan to seek revenge on the father of Hesters child. If the entire village knew of the man, then a legal and proper punishment, such as Hesters, would be put upon the other adulterist. If this was to occur it would cause Chillingworth to have to opportunitty to personally bring harm to shame to the man who had an affair with his wife.
ReplyDeleteI chose the question "How did the Indian come to be acquainted with Chillingworth?" Although it is possible that he could have lied to the townsman about being captured by the Indians, this now seems to be true because the narrator acknowledges this on page 109: "In his Indian captivity, moreover, he had gained much knowledge of the properties of native herbs and roots; nor did he conceal for his patients, that these simple medicines, Nature's boon to the untutored savage, had quite as large a share of his own confidence as the European pharmacopoeia, which so many learned doctors had spent centuries in elaborating." On another note, this explains why he was "clad in a strange disarray of civilized and savage costume" (56) in the marketplace and why he did not come to Hester sooner after she arrived in New England.
ReplyDeleteI choose the question, "Why is Hester unwilling to tell the name of Pearl's father?" Even though Hester does not clearly say in Chapters 4-9 why she is not willing to say the name it, can be concluded that she does not want her husband to know who she committed adultery with. Knowing that the man would be punished also for leeching and also that her husband was in the crowd, she tried to protect the man she had an affair with. Hester is being unselfish by not saying the man’s name protecting him from punishment as well as revenge from her husband, while she gets the blunt of the blame for the crime.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: "How did the Indian come to be acquainted with Chillingworth?"
ReplyDeleteOne can draw many possible conclusions as to how Chillingworth knows the Indian. Since Chillingworth had no draw to become re-aquainted with his Puritan lifestyle and mysteriously disappeared for 2 years it is possible he was living with the Indians for a bit. How else would he know the Indian methods of healing? He also was not completely outraged at the fact that his wife cheated on him. Maybe he was ditching her for a bit of the savage life? The Indian could just be a friend, escorting him to the town so he doesn't get lost. In addition, the text says (as Mitch quoted) that he was dressed in a combination of Indian and civilized clothing. The book is basically saying he has been on land long enough to find an array of clothing and he was at least friendly with the Indian.
Similair to Alec, I also chose "Why is Hester unwilling to tell the name of Pearl's father's"
ReplyDeleteThe answer is that she is trying to protect him, not only from the Bostonians, but also from Chillingworth. While Hester knows that the father will be austracized amoung the townspeople, she fears that Chillingworth will harm him after she sees him in the crowd. He says "Thou mayest concel it, too, from the ministers and magistrates, even as thou didst this day, when they sought to wrench the name out of thy heart, and give thee a partner on thy pedestatl. But, as for me, I come to the inquest with other senses than they possess. I shall seek this man, as I have sought truth in books" (70). Chillingworth has the intent to seek the man out and harm him, and Hester is trying to protect the man from Chillingworth
The question I chose to answer was "why is hester unwilling to tell the name of Pearl's father?" The answer to this question is because if she told the reverends who the father was, both the father and hester would be outcasts, and the father would most likely be punished by his peers. As Cameron mentioned, once we read further into the novel, we find out that Chillingworth doesn't want to hear the name of the man so that it will be a challenge finding and exacting revenge on him. It is evident that the man would most likely have become an outcast as Hester did, and would have been exiled to somewhere far away from town where nobody would bother them.
ReplyDeleteThe question that I choose was the same one that many others have chosen. I is, "Why would the stranger not want Hester to reveal the name of Pearl's father."
ReplyDeleteI believe that the stranger, who we find out is the husband of Hester and has changed his name to Chillingworth, wants to have his own vengance on the father. If Hester told everyone who the father was, then the community would be able to punish him however they wanted to. However, Chillingworth does not the community to punish the father, but instead, he wants to punish the father himself. Chillingsworth wants revenge and he wants to deal with the father personally instead of having the community do that for him.
The question I chose to answer for our blog post tonight is “Why wouldn’t Hester’s husband want Hester to admit that he is her husband?” I believe that the reason Hester’s husband (Chillingworth) chose not to out himself as Hester’s husband is that he didn’t want to add to the chaos. Because Hester was sent over to America by Chillingworth, and he hadn’t arrived until this time, he didn’t want to cause controversy in the case of Hester’s affair and child. It is possible that Chillingworth didn’t want to be put at fault for Hester’s affair, as he was the one who sent her there. Ultimately, there are dozens of possible reasons why Chillingworth didn’t want Hester to confess that he is her husband.
ReplyDeleteI had chosen the second question, "Why would the stranger not want Hester to reveal the name of the father?"
ReplyDeleteThis is a more difficult question to answer, I think, however conclusions can be made, or at least theories. I think that it is because he is not the father of this child, and wishes to find out who is for himself. Hester has cheated on him with another man, sinned against him and ruined their marriage. The stranger, who we now know is Roger Chillingworth, seeks vengeance on the true father of the child. If Hester reveals the name to the community, he will not have his opportunity to get even. The town will simply shame him and exile him just as they have done to Hester. Chillingworth desires revenge and wishes to do unto the father as the father and Hester have done unto him. He will not rest until he gets his revenge either.
My question was the same as Cameron's and Alec's of "why would Hester not tell the name of Pearl's father." originally i was very confused and unsure as to why she wouldnt reval the name. It seemed like a pointless battle and if I was her i would have the father coming down with me but then we were introduced to her husband. This lead me to think that she will not tell the name because she doesnt want
ReplyDeleteChillingworth to hurt the man. So I believe that Hester truely cares for the father thats why she won't tell anyone the name.
I chose to answer, "Why would the stranger not want Hester to reveal the name of Pearl's father?"
ReplyDeleteI believe the stranger, who we learn as Chillingworth, or Hester's husband, wants his own revenge on the father of Pearl. If Hester had been open to the society about who the father was, he would face punishment from all directions and not just a personal punishment from Chillingworth. Hester had a child with another man, other than her husband, and that must be devastating, so Chillingworth can apply personal punishment as well as escape questioning of society.
I chose the question, "Why was Hester's husband in the crowd?"
ReplyDeleteI believe he decided to first see Hester from the crowd and not up close in person because he was aware of the hearing she was about to attend and didn't want to interfere with her situation. He did however signal to her to keep quiet about him and who her adulterer was. I also think he stationed himself in the crowd because he wanted to seem like a bystander, and to not make a scene, drawing more attention to Hester.