Is this a good intro paragraph for my scarlet letter paper?

Question

Imagine your town. What are the people like? Would you be accepted if you had to wear an extravagant A on your bosom? So you think it will not be that bad, What if the A stood for adulterer. Would you be embarrassed? Put yourself in a early seventeenth century puritan town, in which even dancing may be unholy. Adultery definitely will not be accepted. Then you commit adultery. Hester Prynne, from The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was in this very situation. At the beginning of the novel Hester was seen as a horrible person, and that she would never be forgiven of her sin. The town was proven to be wrong. She was eventually forgiven of her sin. Hester watches her new found lover Dimmesdale the father of her daughter Pearl, slowly fade away as her ex lover tortures him. Hester and Dimmesdale want to be rid of their sins and start a new life with their daughter Pearl and unite as one. Their plan eventually comes to a halt, and not only leads to the demise of Dimmesdale but ...

Answer 1

Your first paragraph should grab your reader's attention and move forward to the story you want to tell. By starting with your 3 questions you got me stuck: in my town there's no way I will wear an A on my bosom!!! You lost my attention!!!

In your first paragraph you need to expose the setting: start with the little town of puritans. Mention the stinging cold weather they must have felt in 1600. Make people SEE what you are seeing!!! And remember: do not preach!!!

A story is about entertaining! Yes, there's a message, but your readers should never feel that you're preaching because they'll gete defensive.

Now, you already have the whole story: The Scarlett Letter. What moved you? Was there something that touched you deeply? What was fair/not fair to you?

Another thing: your paragraph is too confusing. You have too many concepts/ideas that you could develop into single paragraphs. You move too fast from one idea to the next one. Be patient. Writing isn't about telling all your thoughts in one single paragraph, but narrating them to others in order, in short sentences, and so that the first flows into the second one, and so on.

I hope this answer helped you.

By the way: Never ever write about something that doesn't matter to you. Whatever you want to write about this story should be something that really moves you; that inspires you to an answer!

Answer 2

Before we get into the big picture, fix the problem with parallel structure in this sentence:

At the beginning of the novel Hester was seen as a horrible person, and that she would never be forgiven of her sin.

To me, the best solution is to give up on having two parallel anythings and make it read this way: At the beginning of the novel Hester was seen as a horrible person who would never be forgiven for her sin. (Change "of" to "for" in the second sentence after that one, too, or just omit any preposition.)

Now for the larger elements. For an introduction, the paragraph is rather long, especially since there's evidently more to it. What's your thesis--the main idea of the whole essay? Unless your teacher has instructed otherwise, you should put it at the END of the introduction. If it's that Hester is eventually forgiven or redeemed, then stop there and move the rest of what was in that paragraph to the body. Once you show what your main idea is, it will be easier to see how to set up the rest of the essay.

Answer 3

Scarlet Letter Essay Introduction

Answer 4

I think your approach is too scattered. You throw out a bunch of ideas, but I have no idea what your theme is or where you're going with your essay. This paragraph is too much a list of assorted facts about the novel.
You address the reader directly. You talk about adultery. You jump from attitudes in the beginning of the book to those at the ending. You do too much in this one paragraph.
I'd come up with a thesis--a point you're trying to demonstrate. The facts you use should be connected with your thesis. And you should probably try to be more chronological in the order you present your facts. After all, the characters do change quite a bit in this novel.
Your sentences and grammar are fine: you are usually lucid in what you say. (The sentence "Hester watches...." needs some commas.)You should work on your overall structure and organization.
One easy approach: in any one paragraph, give a generalization, followed by facts to support that generalization.

Answer 5

It definitely sounds like more of a blurb than an introduction to a topical paper. The intro should inform the reader that you intend to establish a position if it is a thesis paper. If it is just a book report you may be okay.