copyright 1999, Sirpa Grierson

"Characterization in The Scarlet Letter" by Keller, Megan. http://www.literatureclassics.com/texts/33/ LiteratureClassics.com includes many sample essays on The Scarlet Letter. These essays can be helpful teaching tools because 1) they provide sample student writing, 2) several of the well-written essays give topic ideas and information that can be further researched, and 3) the works cited for the essays contain valuable references that students can further peruse for their own research. Discovery School DiscoverySchool.com. http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/thescarletletter/ Very nice lesson plan ideas and related links to further lesson plans are included in the website for DiscoverySchool.com. The massive amount of detailed teaching information on The Scarlet Letter can give teachers good ideas for what they do and do not want to teach their students. These lesson plans provide teachers with a good foundation of how and what they should teach their students about The Scarlet Letter, even though they can be easily modified. "'Emblem and Product of Sin': The Poisoned Child in The Scarlet Letter and Domestic Advice Literature." Nudelman, Franny. The Yale Journal of Criticism-Interpretation in the Humanities.10:1(1997): 193-213. The symbolism that is taught in this article about Hester Prynne, Pearl, and the scarlet letter will aid students in their understanding of Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter. Franny Nudelman analyzes Hester's relationship with the scarlet letter "A" and discusses how the sinful letter both detaches her, and at the same time, makes her more powerful than her judgmental Puritan comrades. "Hester's Revenge: The Power of Silence in The Scarlet Letter." Person, Leland S. Nineteenth Century Literature 43:4(1989): 465-83. Leland S. Person's article reveals how The Scarlet Letter demonstrates both the importance of speech and of silence. Hawthorne realistically portrays the power that a silent individual can have or not have, depending on the reason for their silence. Students can learn from this article many possibilities for why Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth might have kept their "silence." Hey Smarty HeySmarty.com. http://www.heysmarty.com/bookportal.asp?portalid=69 This website includes links to background studies, lesson plans, the full text of Hawthorne's novel, an analysis of characters, sample essays, studies of symbolism and themes, an author bibliography, and vocabulary of The Scarlet Letter. All of these links provide great tools that can be informational assets in teaching The Scarlet Letter. "Nathaniel Hawthorne, Una Hawthorne, and The Scarlet Letter: Herbert, T. Walter, Jr. Interactive Selfhoods and the Cultural Construction of Gender." Modern Language Associations of America.103:2 (1988): 285-97. This article is one of the best! It teaches about the relationship between Hawthorne's daughter Una and his character Pearl, as well as revealing the gender struggles women faced during the 17th century and how Puritan males governed the country and the church. Walter T. Herbert also makes an interesting analogy between how Hawthorne was treated during the time he wrote The Scarlet Letter, and how that influenced what Hawthorne included in his novel. Students will enjoy and learn much about the background information behind The Scarlet Letter from this journal article. "Paternal Gold: Translating Inheritance in The Scarlet Letter" Sterling, Laurie A. ATQ-American Transcendental Quarterly. New Series 6:1 (1992): 17-30. This article provides very useful background information about Hawthorne's life, and why he wrote The Scarlet Letter the way he did-criticizing the Puritan leadership at the same time he critiqued the political Whigs and his "paternal" heritage, or connection, with his ancestors at the Salem witch trials. Social and economic standards are not always good measures to judge the worth of something, or someone. Students can learn from this article why Hawthorne stressed the importance of allowing an individual to build his or her own identity from past inheritances that they themselves either accept or reject. "Nathaniel Hawthorne-The Scarlet Letter" The Classic Text: Traditions and Interpretations. http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/Library/special/exhibits/clastext/clspg143.htm This website contains biographies on hundreds of major authors and detailed information about how their works came to be famous. Teachers can use this website to reveal why and how Hawthorne's important text, The Scarlet Letter, is worth studying even today. "The Elaborated Sign of The Scarlet Letter." Smith, Allan Lloyd. ATQ-American Transcendental Quarterly. New Series 1:1. (1987) 69-82. Students will recognize from this article that all of Hawthorne's signs in The Scarlet Letter represent multiple ideas or objects. The article discusses how the scarlet letter "A" simultaneously hides and forges Hester's identity. Allan Lloyd Smith's article is a helpful teaching tool because it discusses how symbolism and signs in The Scarlet Letter come to have both realistic and nonrealistic meanings. The Puritan Era http://www.apuritansmind.com/PuritanEra.htm This web site gives an overview of the Puritan beliefs, parts of the history of the beliefs as well as their modern practices.  This information is very useful in teaching the setting of the novel.

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Reading Resources and Unit Guide for this Novel