Reflection Questions Ch 16-18

This is your last blog entry, so it's lengthy and worth a total of 30 pts. This one, in addition toall of your previous entries on The Scarlet Letter will be counted as a final quiz grade.

Part I



You all got very fired up in class today. I like that. And it was funny to watch. Unfortunately, we got cut short. SO...here's your change to nail the opposing team once more before the debate is closed for good. If you have a counterpoint or rebuttle that did not get "air time," post it here. If not, describe which team gave the most compelling argument. Comment as many times as you like.



Part II



Ultimately, your opinions don't matter. Ha! Well, no, they matter, but not as much as the author's opinions matter. This is all about literary analysis afterall. So whether you think Dimmesdale or Chillingworth is more guilty, you have to put your own opinions aside and think about what side Hawthorne would take in this debate. In chapter 18, Hawthorne both direclty and indirectly reveals his opinions about the hierarchy of sins (hint: it's different from Dante's!).This is a pivotal moment in the novel. The chapter is called "A Flood of Sunshine".

• Reread this chapter, looking for moments where Hawthorne reveals his position on who is more guilty. Quote them.
• What is the difference between a "sin of passion" and a "sin of principle"?
• What is the significance of the "flood of sunshine?"

Reread pages 182-183.  Consider what is happening and why.
Answer:

• Why is this a crucial moment? 
• Why does the sun suddenly burst forth in this way? What is the overall effect? 
• What greater theme or purpose does Hawthorne convey in the scene? 

Part III
Lastly, a personal question:

• What is your favorite part of the novel so far? 
• Share a quotation from your favorite scene and explain why you selected it.

E-text for The Scarlet Letter - Close Reading Assignment

http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/nh/sl.html
 
You may use this site to print out a copy of the text for annotating. There are many others as well, just be sure they are reliable sources so you're analyzing the real text.

ekphrastic poetry resources

http://valerie6.myweb.uga.edu/ekphrasticpoetry.html

Painting

Poem

Nude Descending a Staircase Marcel Duchamp (1912)

"Nude Descending a Staircase" X. J. Kennedy (1961) Toe upon toe, a snowing flesh, A gold of lemon, root and rind, She sifts in sunlight down the stairs With nothing on. Nor on her mind.  We spy beneath the banister A constant thresh of thigh on thigh-- Her lips imprint the swinging air That parts to let her parts go by.  One-woman waterfall, she wears Her slow descent like a long cape And pausing, on the final stair Collects her motions into shape.

Painting

Poem

The Village of the Mermaids  Paul Delvaux (1942)

"Paul Delvaux: The Village of the Mermaids" Lisel Mueller (1988) Who is that man in black, walking away from us into the distance? The painter, they say, took a long time finding his vision of the world.  The mermaids, if that is what they are under their full-length skirts, sit facing each other all down the street, more of an alley, in front of their gray row houses. They all look the same, like a fair-haired order of nuns, or like prostitutes with chaste, identical faces. How calm they are, with their vacant eyes, their hands in laps that betray nothing. Only one has scales on her dusky dress.  It is 1942; it is Europe, and nothing fits. The one familiar figure is the man in black approaching the sea, and he is small and walking away from us.

Painting

Poem

Girl Powdering Her Neck Kitagawa Utamaro (c. 1790)

"Girl Powdering Her Neck" Cathy Song (1983) The light is the inside sheen of an oyster shell, sponged with talc and vapor, moisture from a bath.  A pair of slippers are placed outside the rice-paper doors. She kneels at a low table in the room, her legs folded beneath her as she sits on a buckwheat pillow.  Her hair is black with hints of red, the color of seaweed spread over rocks.  Morning begins the ritual wheel of the body, the application of translucent skins. She practices pleasure: the pressure of three fingertips applying powder. Fingerprints of pollen some other hand will trace.  The peach-dyed kimono patterned with maple leaves drifting across the silk, falls from right to left in a diagonal, revealing the nape of her neck and the curve of a shoulder like the slope of a hill set deep in snow in a country of huge white solemn birds. Her face appears in the mirror, a reflection in a winter pond, rising to meet itself.  She dips a corner of her sleeve like a brush into water to wipe the mirror; she is about to paint herself. The eyes narrow in a moment of self-scrutiny. The mouth parts as if desiring to disturb the placid plum face; break the symmetry of silence. But the berry-stained lips, stenciled into the mask of beauty, do not speak.  Two chrysanthemums touch in the middle of the lake and drift apart.

Hawthorne the Painter

Great class today! I thought your comments and insight into the connections between painting and writing were fabulous. For your reflection, I want you to find another painting and compare it to the literary techniques that Hawthorne uses in The Scarlet Letter.
SO....you may use googleimage and type in "Romantic Painting" or "Romanticism and art" or do some other web research to find a painting that you can analyze.

• Compare the techniques of the artist and the painting to the literary techniques of The Scarlet Letter. Give specific similarities.
• Provide the image of the painting or a link to it in your post
• Comment on each other's paitings for extra fun! :)

"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. 

Reflection Question: Ch 1-3

In Ch 3, the ministers ask Hester an important question - a question that is probably on your own mind. What is the question?? Based on the reading you have done in these chapters, do you have a theory about the answer to the question which the ministers have put to Hester? If you do, explain what you have noticed in your reading that might support your theory.

Is Shame Effective? Some food for thought.

After reading your exit slips, I was interested to see that many of you answered both yes and no to the question, "Is shame an effective way to teach a lesson?" This got me thinking (thanks, you all!) about the concept of shame and how it is still used in our penal system today. Would it be better to publicly shame criminals than to keep them in jail?

Naturally, I googled the question. Here's a few links to opinions on both sides of the argument:
http://www.epinions.com/content_2905317508

http://law.jrank.org/pages/2120/Shaming-Punishments-Policy-issues.html

http://gideonsguardians.blogspot.com/2005/12/shaming-as-legitimate-punishment.html

I think it would be exciting if some of you read these and came to class informed and opinionated. I'd love that! :)