AP English 3 class

[Unregistered]

im trying to understand it too. i find this book way too boring

[Christy]

Yeah, we're reading the book in school and we have to get 10 quotes. The book is boring enough and now we have to find how it relates to our lives. They teach us to be abstinant and then they tell us to relate a book about adultry and lying to our lives.

[Chrk]

maybe if you didn't have to read it for school...<br><br>they say that being forced to read something makes it 110% more uninterseting. this book is actually very deep. re-read it later at your own pace after you've finished it at school

[Dave]

I had your same sentiments when I read custom house. That I say with no second thought was torture, however when I read the firstchapter, which is a few pages and took in the beautiful poetic discription i had some hope for it, still skeptical. It is relatively slow, but if you read it, and actually take it in, which is hard when it is an assignment, I think you'll find something in it you like, whether it is an idea, a passage or some wording. The plot twists at certain points, which actually will make it interesting if you actually focus on what you are reading.

[Jenny]

I had to read The Scarlet Letter for AP English my junior year in high school and gave up before I got all the way through it. But now, my sophomore year in college, I'm reading it again for American Literature and can barely put it down. I find it a lot more interesting than the first time, and I'm enjoying reading and taking quotes. Honestly, i can't wait to write my final essay on it, because I've gotten so much more out of it this time than I did a few years ago.

[Kat]

How can you be in an AP class and call the Classics junk? This is my senior year and my lit class is actually "The Classics". It is only the way you look at it. I read this book twice in two years for two different classes and even though I didn't like being forced to read it I knew I had to do it so I tried to enjoy it and I did. Think deeper about the issues faced in this book. You can apply so many of them to your daily life...and just because your sin isn't adultry doesn't mean you aren't a sinner...for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So maybe for you it is cheating or stealing or swearing or lust- add that into the story instead of Hester's adultry. And haven't you ever felt alone and like everyone is picking on you or juding you? I know I have...in fact my thesis on this book is about the effect of judging an individual as a society and its role throughout the book. Don't look at the book like it is old and doesn't apply to you...you could even keep the plot but change the names and sin and do a modern Scarlet Letter for a class project or something...try and have fun with it. It is a great book!

[MJS]

I can understand why this book might be perceived as "boring." It doesn't have a very fast plot; practically speaking, not much happens. However, the "action" is not truly what the focus of the book is on. One critic described the book best when he said "It is a drama in which thoughts are acts." The truly great parts of the book are Hawthorne's descriptions of what is going on inside of the characters heads. I personally thought this book was going to be horribly boring--until I read the scene where Hester first stands on the scaffold. It's amazing. He captures the emotions of the event with breathtaking vividness and accuracy. In these and other times, I have found that Hawthorne has a gift for making even the most ordinary things and events come alive, and have new meaning. <br><br>The House of Seven Gables wasn’t quite as good--but I might suggest you go back and read the scene with the ticking pocket watch (i.e.—Judge Pickering death), and the description earlier on of Judge Pickering’s soul (the analogies drawn between it and a house.) I found both of these scenes to be chillingly gripping, especially the second one. <br>

[Mj]

Sometimes we have to sift through a great deal of what seems to be garbage to find the true meaning. We don't always end up with the same conclusion either. In my studies, sometimes I feel overwhelmed by details that seem to cloud the point. I found that putting the book down and picking it up again later helps me to absorb the material.<br> Also, the English language has changed quite a bit as well, so much of the terminology is not at all what we are accustomed to. That makes reading this material more challenging.<br> Just keep plowing through it, it will get easier with experience, and you will always get "something" out of reading the classics. Honest.

[Unregistered]

you haven't read Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis have you? It IS the most boring book ever!!!

[KHS Viking]

I'm sorry if I anger someone, but how do you people read these books? This has got to be the most boring book I have ever read along with THe House of the Seven Gables. I am having to take notes on this book about "What does it all mean junk." I have to say I admire those who like to read and care about these "classics."

[Bady_Bear]

I gotta read this Scarlet Letter for my English class 11. Well, the book was kind used a lot of old english. it was very difficult for me to understand the book because english is my second language but i enjoyed the book although i'm not really understand it. But i'm sure this is an awesome book.