im reading Ethan Frome and the Scarlet Letter. Right now i just started the scarlet letter, i am on the 3rd chapter and it feels like i dont understnad a thing im reading. I dont know but is it bad that i dont understnad it? i mean im really trying. anyway, could anyone find me a detailed summary of the book, and maybe give me some clues on how to get into it more. Ethan Frome looks like it is going to be a lot easier to understand. but ad of right now please send me any links or summaries, ANYTHING to help me be able to write a good report for this. Please! thanks in advance to you guys, your the best =]
2007-07-02 16:05:38 · 9 answers · asked by liveitup 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
i only have a week to read it, so this information and tips shouldn't be about reading more than once, lol, i dont have time!! aha.
2007-07-02 16:27:03 · update #1
Try this. I hated the book.
2007-07-02 16:13:06 · answer #1 · answered by redunicorn 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Scarlet Letter is set during the Puritian period in New England when the Puritians first settled here in the New World.
Instead of city, state and local governments such as we know them now the communities were ruled more or less by the elders of the church.
The setting is a new preacher comes to the town to take over as pastor of the church.
Hestor is a marred woman whose husband has gone to I thing it was England but it might have been one of the southern colonies on business.
Problem is he was believed to have been lost at sea and was dead.
Hestor and the preacher start liking each other. Which develps into a love affair between her and the preacher. Which they keep secret. because he is the town's preacher and she is supposedly a widowed woman in morning.
Well to make a long story short after Hestor and the preacher start having their affair her husband shows back up.
He was not dead after all. He had been rescued.
But by then Hestor and the preacher are in love with each other and can't stop seeing each other.
Hestor's husband more or less sets a trap and catches them together.
They are brought to trial. Her on adultory and he on fornication.
She is found guilty and is flogged in the town square than then has to wear the Scarelet letter "A" to signify that she has commented adultory.
He is banned from the to Colony and defrocked as a preacher for having had sexual intercourse with a married woman.
What the book is, it is a graphic illustration of the Folkways and Moralways of the Puritian Colonies in England.
It also describes several other punishments which people namely women received for breaking the rules of the colony and not keeping their places as women.
Another interesting featrure of the book concerning the folkways and Moralways of that period was that a man seeing a lady's underwear (unmentionables) was required to marry her because no man other than her husband was supposed to see a lady's underwear:
That is also one place at the church where them men leave their rifles at the back of the church handy in case of an Indian attack was was always a real threat.
It is a fairly interesting book but a little deep and not writen in modern English so a little hard to understand if you are not from the Puritian region of New England since it has a lot of their dialect.
Becauses the audio books there was a Movie made from the book. The name of the movie is the Scarelet Letter and it is on DVD if you can find it. Your library might have it. And if you got to Wally World (Wal Marts) check there, I have seen it in the $1.00 movies. It is a classic old black and white movie.
Hope that helps.
I had to read that things too. Didn't like it much but then it is more of a Chick book than a guy book! To sum it up kind of a love gone wrong type plot.
I guess the whole plot of the book could be summed up:
New Preacher comes to town:
New Preacher meets lady whose husband is gone and thought dead.
New Preacher gets hots for lady.
:Lady gets hots for New Preacher.
New Preacher and lady start having affair
New Preacher and lady fall in love:
Lady's husband not dead after all he comes back:
Lady's husband and elders catch New Preacher and Lady in affair (polite wording for you know what)
New Preacher gets kicked out of town and defrocked (kicked out of being preacher)
Lady gets public whipping!
Lady get branded with the Scarlet (Red) Letter "A" signifying she is and adultress.
That about sums it up.
2007-07-03 03:50:49 · answer #2 · answered by JUAN FRAN$$$ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I had a hard time understanding the Scarlet Letter when I first read it and at the time I was in sophomore year with a reading level off the charts, so my only explanation is that maybe the subject matter isn't interesting to you. I know it's probably required reading so I suggest reading it through a couple of times until you feel comfortable with plot and character knowledge then branch out into the deeper meanings and literary devices your teachers probably want you to be taking notes on. Good luck.
2007-07-02 23:15:51 · answer #3 · answered by localsdrocker 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I LOVED The Scarlet Letter...it's a really great story, Hawthorne is just difficult to read. Whatever you do, don't skip reading the actual text. What I did was I read the chapter summaries on sparknotes.com BEFORE reading the text just so I could grasp the content and know what I was looking for. It's really worth it. Check out the comparisons you can make between Pearl and Jesus and the significance of beauty, light and dark, and how Hawthornes resentment of his Puritan roots come through (ie, how he portrays the Puritans of the town). It'll impress your teacher or whomever it is you're reporting back to.
2007-07-03 01:44:29 · answer #4 · answered by ChiOmafia 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah, the book is difficult. Welcome to Hawthorne's writing. :)
My best advice for you is to read it along with the sparknotes. First, read a chapter in the book, and read the corresponding chapter in sparknotes. After a while, you'll be able to understand what you are reading, and not have to use the sparknotes at all. They do help though, by pointing out important quotes, and little details that are sometimes missed.
There is so MUCH going on in The Scarlet Letter, that it is too beautifully written to NOT be read.
2007-07-03 00:27:56 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i HATED the scarlett letter, I had to read it last year, 10th grade, I gave up and used spark notes...and ya know what?!?! I still got an A on the assignment. Go to the cliffsnotes website or sparknotes. either of them .com and you should find very well detailed summaries.
2007-07-03 00:20:18 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've never read it but I have heard what it's about. Hester (I think that's her name) sleeps with a preacher. That's where the scarlet letter comes in. She gets treated like dirt but nothing happens to him. I don't know how it ends. I never read it because it would just make me angry.
2007-07-03 00:20:05 · answer #7 · answered by Anna 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You might be able to download the audiobook for free and If you listen to the story read to you sometimes it helps to get into it and understand it better.
Check here:
http://reads.lib.overdrive.com/DE8542E8-D269-46EC-B3DC-42070BC80349/10/153/en/default.htm
I did a search and they have the audiobook, and also the Cliff Notes available for download free - it's legal because it's a library. All you need is a library card to get them.
Best of luck to you!
2007-07-02 23:54:12 · answer #8 · answered by Detourz 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i tried to read the scarlet letter too, i found it really boring and confusing. i gave up. try reading jane eyre instead. =] but if u really wanna read it, try sparknotes.com
2007-07-03 00:19:51 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋