Michelle Pinsky
09-01-2005, 04:02 PM
This was a passage from my report when asked if The Scarlet Letter was a good piece of literature or not:
"I believe that this piece of work is not an example of good literature because; it is not entertaining and because the style of writing does not fit with the current times. Hawthorne writes in such a way using language and sentence structure seemingly design to confound and impress his reader. His vocabulary and sentence structure are difficult to follow and don’t comply with the commonly used syntax of current American English. For example, “But it is an error to suppose that our grave forefathers- though accustomed to speak and think of human existence as a state merely of trial and warfare, and though unfeignedly prepared to sacrifice goods and life at the behest of duty- made it a matter of conscience to reject such means of comfort, or even luxury, as lay fairly within their grasp.” (Hawthorne 74) Not only is this sentence a giant run-on, it also includes unnecessary details that go on unnecessarily. When he does get back to the point of the passage, the reader has most likely forgotten what the sentence was about in the first place. His additional words add no useful information to the story whatsoever. He also has the tendency to overuse the word ignominy or other forms of the word as I have found it used in the book nineteen times."
"I believe that this piece of work is not an example of good literature because; it is not entertaining and because the style of writing does not fit with the current times. Hawthorne writes in such a way using language and sentence structure seemingly design to confound and impress his reader. His vocabulary and sentence structure are difficult to follow and don’t comply with the commonly used syntax of current American English. For example, “But it is an error to suppose that our grave forefathers- though accustomed to speak and think of human existence as a state merely of trial and warfare, and though unfeignedly prepared to sacrifice goods and life at the behest of duty- made it a matter of conscience to reject such means of comfort, or even luxury, as lay fairly within their grasp.” (Hawthorne 74) Not only is this sentence a giant run-on, it also includes unnecessary details that go on unnecessarily. When he does get back to the point of the passage, the reader has most likely forgotten what the sentence was about in the first place. His additional words add no useful information to the story whatsoever. He also has the tendency to overuse the word ignominy or other forms of the word as I have found it used in the book nineteen times."