Need a ton of help on my essay!

Hey guys!

I have an essay due Monday, the 31st, and while I understand the book and the question I'm completly stuck as to how to start the essay or organize it...

The question is, "Discuss Hawthorne's use of symbolism within the novel, and analyze how he uses symbol to develop his theme/themes of the novel."

It would be really helpful is anyone had suggestions about how to organize it! Also it was really help out if anyone could post as many symbols as they can think!

Thank you for reading this, and thank yah even MORE if you take the time to help me!

please help! haha

Hi ash-a-lee. Welcome to the forum.:) Did you already look at all the other posts for the Scarlet Letter? If not, look at the top of the page.

Literature Network Forums > Reading > Author & Book Directory > Hawthorne, Nathaniel > The Scarlet Letter

Click on the The Scarlet Letter, it will take you to several posts with similar themes. Might be able to find some references to symbolism in the book. What symbols do you have so far?

Sometimes when I have trouble organizing I draw a bubble-cluster chart, with the thesis in the middle, and 3 or 4 big supporting ideas leading out of it. Don't worry about the commentary right now. Just decide on a thesis, and then on your general topic sentences (1 for each supporting idea or paragraph.) Right now I wouldn't even worry about the order of your paragraphs. After you've got your topic sentences go back and find 3 or 4 concrete details (quotes from the text that support your idea) for each. After you've got all the evidence you need to prove your opinions in front of you, its not too hard to state your opinions. For example:

Sentence #1
(Topic Sentence) : The walls in this classroom are dull and boring.

Sentence #2
(Concrete Detail) : [For example] The walls have no color or outstanding textures.

Sentences #3-5
(Commentary) : [This shows that] The lack of variety creates a prison cell environment....etc

The words in the brackets can give you a shove in the right direction if you get stuck, even though they won't appear in your final copy (go ahead, read it without the words and you'll see you don't need them.) Other phrases you can subistute in the last set of brackets are: This demonstrates that, This implies that, etc.

Good Luck

Thanks a ton, clandestine! I usually do start with a bubble chart... But the way you organize it makes a lot of sense, thanks!! The thing that is the hardest for me is the commentary. I've just never been able to conquer that one! haha

Thanks for the welcoming! I read a few threads here and there, sorry if this thread is really repetitious compared to a bunch of others. Just stressed out about this essay and needed help.

I've got a few examples. I've got the main example of the letter "A"... I've got the rose bush, but I'm not exactly quite sure what it symbolizes... I've heard quite a few things and I'm really just not sure anymore. I've got how Pearl is like a living letter "a" for hester... Uh... Oh question, would how they called Chillingsworth the leech be one?... uh.. let's see.. Well that's about it for now. I'm going to try and go through the book and see what I can come up with and all that jazz...

I need a lot of help... I can usually find examples I'm just not sure how to use them and how to describe them, does that make sense?

Also does anyone have any ideas on a thesis statement? It seems I always get marked off quite a few points for having either to vague or one or too weak, etc...

Again, thanks a ton! This really helps. My teacher is kinda a jerk and I'm just not comfortable asking him for help. I'm the person who feels stupid asking questions and he's a teacher that makes you feel stupid for asking. Yuck!

As a fiction writer myself, I cringe a little every time I hear about symbolism in literature. I've read some wild speculation about symbols in stories which I'm convinced the authors never intended (e.g. Hemingway got the last laugh about the shark in "The Old Man and the Sea" by saying it represented critics looking for symbols.)

As Freud said about dream symbolism: "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

I think it's important for you to remeber that there is NOT a right answer as far as interpretation goes. That's the beauty of literature; it's like a bridge with the author at one end and yourself at the other. Reading a book is an experience that effects everyone differently. Form your own opinions. Then find text to back up those opinions, take a strong stance, and argue your view point like you're trying to sell it. It seems like you have a vague idea of what your teacher wants, so I'd start there. Which of the interpretations seems right to you? Why?

As for your thesis, the more specific you can be the better. A lot of people come up with pretty general thesis statements, and then waste a lot of breathe stating the obvious. If you want a good essay, you have to put a lot of thinking into it. It's hard work. Period.

I'm afriad I can't be of much more help to you, I've never actually read the Scarlet Letter. Maybe there is someone in your class or in another period you can talk to?

yeah, I've always thought the same about symbolism as well, starrwriter! Sometimes I wonder if some of these authors could come back if they would just laugh at how we over analyze everything!

Thanks again! I'm gonna get started as soon as I get off the computer. Still not sure about my thesis, but we'll get there. I might actually go ask an old teacher of mine for help tomorrow. So maybe that will help me get a kick start in the right direction. Thanks a ton, once more! This board is really neat. Helps a lot! Sometimes you over think things so much you tend to not see what's really obvious.

Thanks a ton!

"Oh question, would how they called Chillingsworth the leech be one?... uh.. let's see.. Well that's about it for now. I'm going to try and go through the book and see what I can come up with and all that jazz..."

right, so basically Chillingworth is called a leech because he is a parasite to dimmesdale. He lives off of Dimmesdale, just like a parasite. For a quote or example, after Dimmesdale dies, Chillingworth dies right after because he cannot live w/ out his host.

im finishing this book too. here are a few symbols-sunshine is like truth, it shines on Pearl but not on Hester- the scaffold, the public acknowledgement of sin- and the black rose in the forest is evil.

Thanks tons and tons guys!

Well ok I think I pretty much got what I want to talk about, the only problem I'm facing is my thesis statement...

The question is up above... My last few essays my teachers have told me that the thesis statement was too vague...

One teacher told me to think about what I thought about the symbols... but eh. I don't know.

Sheesh this essay should be easy... Luckily the due date got moved back, thank goodness!