Scarlet Letter Project

1. Scarlet Letter Project Based on the Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne Rachel McNicklePd AB

2. Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts on July 4th, 1804. Nathaniel’s original last name was “Hathorne” which he later changed to “Hawthorne” to separate himself of his family’s history. Nathaniel’s father passed away when Nathaniel was young which caused his mother to become very protective and push him towards isolated activites. This led Nathaniel to writing. Nathaniel went on to attend Bowdoin College in 1825. After graduating college, he settled in Salem. In 1842, Nathaniel married Sophia Peabody. The couple then moved to Concord, Massachusetts and eventually had three children together, Una, Julian, and Rose. Once settled, Nathaniel continued writing. Hawthorne wrote many successful short stories including “"My Kinsman, Major Molineux", "Roger Malvin's Burial", and "Young Goodman Brown“. Upon his return to Salem in 1845 and was appointed a position of the Boston Custom House by President James Polk. When Zachary Taylor became president, Nathaniel was removed. Due to this, he dedicated all of his time to his now-famous novel, The Scarlet Letter. This novel was a complete success and is said to be an “inevitable read for most high school English classes.” The book’s success drove Hawthorne to a life of writing. He went on to write multiple other novels such as The Blithedale Romance. Sadly, Nathaniel Hawthorne passed away on May 19, 1964 in Plymouth, New Hampshire. He had suffered a long illness and was buried in Concord, Massachusetts. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americannovel/timeline/hawthorne.html http://www.egs.edu/library/nathaniel-hawthorne/biography/ http://www.gradesaver.com/author/hawthorne/ http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/book-review-scarlet-letter

3. Character Profile: Hester Prynne Hester Prynne is the protagonist of The Scarlet Letter. Hester is a young woman married to an elderly man named Roger Chillingworth. Roger Chillingworth sends Hester to Boston, Massachusetts to find a home for the couple where they can start over. Roger was to stay back and finish a few things up and then follow Hester. Roger fails to come to America after her. Hester meets and falls in love with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale while she is in Boston. They have an affair which results in pregnancy. Hester is publicly punished on the scaffold for committing adultry, and when asked who the man was, she refuses to tell. Hester tells Roger, “thou knowest that I was frank with thee. I felt no love, nor feigned any.” (Page 69)