The Scarlet Letter Paper Prompt

The Scarlet Letter Paper Prompt

Part I: Hawthorne as Historian (1.5-2.5 pages)
-How does Nathaniel Hawthorne “play historian” (he wrote this book in the 1800s) by portraying the American Puritan society in the 1600s? Based on the book, what do you think Hawthorne thought about Puritan society? What argument(s) about the Puritan society was he trying to make in the book? Evaluate his depiction based on lecture notes & the source: Keeping a Puritan Order
-Use lecture notes & primary sources from earlier in the semester (when we discussed the Puritans, before the midterm) to help you in your assessment of Hawthorne’s treatment of Puritan society in the 1600s.

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Part II: Historiography of Hawthorne’s Day & Age (1.5-2.5 pages)
-What is the historical context of the Antebellum Era & the Transcendentalist movement (Early/Mid 1800s, the years in which Hawthorne lived and wrote) of the 1800s? How did that time period influence Hawthorne’s novel (the plot & how he depicted the Puritans)? What religious and cultural/social issues were most prominent in the Antebellum & Transcendentalist Era? How did the social norms change in the 2 centuries from the 1600s to the 1800s?
-Use the lecture notes starting after the midterm for this section of your paper, especially the lectures titled: American Progress & Reform and the Women’s Movement. You should also use other primary & secondary source readings & discussions associated with those lectures. I will actively be looking for lecture topics/material from these lectures & how you related them to the book.

Part III: Conclusion (final paragraph(s) 1-2 paragraphs)
Without using 1st person: What do you think was Hawthorne’s goal/point in writing this book? What do you think of his assessment of Puritan life and moral conclusions about gender & religion? (Again, don’t use first person, state it like it’s fact.) Lastly assess whether you think Hester Prynne is a sinner or a winner? (You may use the article from NPR for this section)

Requirements:
–4-5 Pages (4 FULL PAGES, Do not exceed 6 full pages), Typed, Double Spaced, 12 pt Font
–Come up with a creative, provocative, clever title
–Citations from the sources are a MUST. When you use an example from the book put the citation at the end of the sentence as such (Hawthorne 24) (Hawthorne 56-58) (Hawthorne 2, 4-5, 7). Remember to indicate with “quotation marks what you use a direct quotes from the book” but you still need to cite material that you paraphrased from the book, without using quotation marks. No citations needed for lecture notes. **If you are a history major I encourage you to use Chicago style footnotes. The more you practice the better you’ll become at doing them. There’s a citation manual available for purchase in the History Dept office.
–No outside research is needed. Only your lecture notes, assigned readings & The Scarlet Letter
–This is NOT a book/plot summary, this is a historical context paper. Follow the prompt!

Other Sources to Include:
Keeping a Puritan Order
Hester Prynne: Sinner, Victim, Object, Winner (posted on Blackboard)
Any of the sources pertaining to the women’s movement that you think fit into your paper