The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter

  

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Challenges & Opportunities

Available to teachers only as part of the Teaching The Scarlet Letter Teacher Pass


Teaching The Scarlet Letter Teacher Pass includes:

  • Assignments & Activities
  • Reading Quizzes
  • Current Events & Pop Culture articles
  • Discussion & Essay Questions
  • Challenges & Opportunities
  • Related Readings in Literature & History

Sample of Challenges & Opportunities


Sure. Hawthorne's brilliant novel is an American classic that features one of the most compelling characters in Western literature and offers a glimpse into one of the most important chapters in U.S. history. But, be prepared to take it easy at the beginning of this novel. 

When students crack open their copies of The Scarlet Letter, they encounter a seemingly foreign writing style that may have them running for cover. The language is ornate and formal, to say the least, and the sentence structure tends to look more like a tangled mess than anything else. Your students will get the hang of it, but they'll need to roll up their sleeves and get messy before they can move on to the good stuff. (We're talking about the aftermath of Hester's torrid love affair with a minister and Hawthorne's world-famous symbolism, of course).