How do we create the How?

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How do we create the How?
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• Is this true?
• If xy and x2, then y2
• Show me how you know.

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Lets talk math

• Is this true?
• If x3 and y6, then 2x3y24
• Show me how you know

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What about these?

• If x7y and y3,
• then 2x2y 48
• Show me

• If x3 and y6x7
• Then 3x4y100
• Show me

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The Key

• The key to the answer is not just knowing the
  final product, but also being able to show your
  work through the steps.

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• If rosebushtranscendentalism and
• Hester rosebush,
• then Hester Transcendentalism
• Show me

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• Rose is a universal symbol for love and passion.
• Red is universal symbol for vengeance and
  sexuality
• Threshold represents transition or change
• Rosebush is on threshold of prison
• Rosebush is surrounded by weeds
• Rosebush is described as wild and beautiful
• Hester is crossing the threshold
• Hester is surrounded by Puritans
• Hester committed a sin of passion and sexuality

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Therefore

• The rosebush reflects Hesters transition to
  transcendentalism.
• So What Hawthornes intent is to show his
  reader, through symbolism, that Hester Prynne is
  a transcendental character.

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Put it all together

• In chapter 1 of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne
  describes a beautiful, wild rosebush. He tells
  us that this rosebush is very colorful and
  precious. Its wild beauty is in direct contrast
  to the weeds that grow around the rosebush.
  Ironically, it is placed directly outside of the
  threshold of the prison, offering comfort to the
  prisoners inside.
• The meaning of a rose as a universal symbol is
  love and passion, while red symbolizes vengeance
  and sexuality. The threshold symbolizes a
  transition or change. Therefore the rosebush
  symbolizes a wild, natural moment of passion and
  sexuality that creates a change. The weeds are
  surrounding the rosebush the same way that the
  Puritans are surrounding Hester within the
  prison. Therefore, we can conclude that the
  rosebush symbolizes Hesters act with Dimmesdale
  (sexual love and passion) which leads to her
  transition to transcendentalism while she is
  imprisoned because her passion and vengeance
  forces her to rise above the Puritan code.
• Through Hawthornes favorable language of the
  rosebush, we can tell that he favors
  transcendentalism over the severity of the
  traditionalists.

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Try it with the Scarlet Letter!

• I.D. the universal symbols
• The A
• Scarlet
• Gold
• I.D. the symbol in the text
• Show connections between the text and universal
  symbol
• Give me the why or so what!

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Try it with the Scarlet Letter!Beginning with
the basics

• Who Hester
• What a symbol for transcendentalism
• When Chapter 2
• Where During the prison scene, when we see
  Hester for the first time

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Develop the how

• I.D. the universal symbols
• The A Symbol of adultery, punishment
• Scarlet passion, vengeance
• Gold higher spiritual authority
• Identify the symbol in the novel
• We see the symbol for the first time when Hester
  crosses the threshold of the prison.
• We know that the symbol is handmade by Hester.
• It is breathtakingly beautiful, ironic for a
  symbol of punishment
• Make the connections
• The handmade symbol of punishment for Hesters
  act of adultery reflects Hesters defiance.
• She intentionally makes it red to reflect her act
  of passion and vengeance.
• She weaves in the gold to reflects her
  transcendence to a higher spiritual plane of
  faith.

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Therefore

• Tell me why or so what
• We see through the scarlet letter A that
  Hawthorne is showing Hesters transcendence of
  the Puritan code and rising to a higher spiritual
  plane of authority. She is rejecting the
  punishment of the Puritans through her defiance
  by hand making a beautiful A as a symbol of her
  punishment. The beauty of the A shows her pride.
  Hawthornes intent is to promote Hesters
  transcendentalism and illuminate the hypocritical
  severity of the Puritan code.

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Now the hard part, put it all together!

• The Scarlet Letter
• In Chapter 2, we see Hester for the first time.
  She crosses over the threshold of the prison to
  face her public punishment. Upon her chest is a
  handmade letter A. The A is made of velvet
  scarlet cloth intricately embroidered with gold
  thread. The moment Hester crosses into the
  public eye, the scarlet letter becomes the focus
  of attention.
• Hawthorne uses the A as a symbol of Hesters
  defiant rejection of the severe Puritan code.
  The A was meant to be a punishment representing
  Hesters sin of adultery. However, the demanded
  that Hester hand make this badge of shame.
  Instead of yielding to the demands of society and
  making a symbol of shame, she creates a
  beautiful, intricate decoration. The beauty of
  the article mocks the punishment Hester is to
  endure, indicating her rejection of the
  punishment and her inner strength and pride that
  she will not submit to the Puritan leaders.
  Further, the A is made of scarlet cloth. Red
  symbolizes passion and vengeance. Within the
  decoration, Hester embroiders gold thread. Gold
  symbolizes higher spiritual authority. With
  these two colors woven together, Hawthorne is
  creating a public symbol of Hesters defiance and
  her transcendence above the hypocrisy of the
  Puritan ideology into a higher plane of spiritual
  authority.
• Through the tone of the opening scene, Hawthorne
  expresses his personal apathy towards zealous
  Puritan ideology in favor of the growing
  transcendental movement developing during the
  1800s