Spencer Altman

Period F

           Cover of Great Gatsby

The eyes on the cover show  J.T. Eckleburg’s eyes on the billboard in the valley of ashes.  The irises of the eyes with nude women lounging in them represent Jay Gatsby’s views about and future with Daisy Buchanan. They also have money. The eyes and the lips also represent Daisy. The green tear represents the green light. The bright light represent Gatsby's parties and that him and his lady got back together. The woman has a lot of makeup on as if she is hiding something. Her eyes are droopy and there is a tear moving down her face. It looks as if something did not go as planned for her. Also, The woman also has three jewels on the side of her face. This could be symbolic of money. There is a carnival going on in the background. The carnival light shows fun.   This shows that new york was lively even during the night.

Letter A

I do not think the Scarlett letter did its office because it would be much harder to live with the guilt deep inside of you then on the surface. Dimmsdale had a much harder time hiding his sin than Hester did showing her A. It is evident that Dimmsdale had a difficult time dealing with the sin keeping it to himself because he got sick and struggled to recover with the help of Chillingsworth. Hester is actually recovering in my eyes and is doing much better than Dimmsdale. She has nothing to hide because it is shown on her chest and she does not have to live with the guilt. The Scarlett letter did not do its job because Hester can live her life better when she is isolated with pearl than in the town. She does not deal with guilt daily like Dimmsdale and can hide her sin in the forest. 

The scarlet letter did not do its office

Trevor Krupp

The scarlet letter did not do its office

AKA: The scarlet letter did not do its job

            I think the purpose of the scarlet letter was to embarrass Hester and pearl. It also was to make Hester feel inferior to the rest of the people in the town. At first I think the scarlet letter did do its office, but now Hester made it into a positive. It made her into a better person and made it for a lesion for pearl to follow.

Did the Scarlet Letter do its Office?

The Scarlet Letter had an office, or job, to change Hester’s life and make her a better person; but also feel guilt. Based off events in the story, the Scarlet Letter absolutely did not do its job. Hester instead becomes a very negative and depressed citizen. She certainly felt a significant amount of guilt, but in no way became a better person. She is completely humiliated and degraded. The Puritans look at her as a criminal, an outcast, and most significantly a traitor of the law and god. She had thoughts of committing suicide, and was also threatened multiple times to have her child taken away from her. Both these events form her into an even more morose character, and in a poor state of mind. I also think she is not entirely regretful of her actions because she really loves Pearl. The combination of her self-punishments and the community’s punishment and their impacts show that the Scarlet Letter did NOT do its office.

Did the Scarlet letter do its job?

Spencer Altman

Period F

Did the Scarlet letter do its job?

I do not think that the scarlet letter did its job because it did not make Hester feel like an outcast.  Hester learned to live with it.  She was however ashamed that she had an affair with Dimmesdale.  Hester is very strong willed and seems to have a lot of self respect.  Hester was however quite alienated from the community which I can't imagine feels good and welcoming.  Hester is definitely a free thinker who has ideas that are outside of the box.  Hester is very capable even though people are very sexist against her and they dont always give her a fair chance.  The scarlet letter was located on her breast which is not seen by people so it was not very “out there”.  I think that if the letter was located on her face it would have shamed her more because every time someone sees her it would constantly remind her of what she did.  The only public shaming that Hester ever had was standing on the scaffold.  Hester redeemed herself of shame by doing good deeds which she felt made up for her sin.

Has the Scarlet Letter Done It's Office?

 The Scarlet letter has and has not done its office. The answer to the question is subjective to each considerations. On one hand, since Pearl was born 7 years ago, the townspeople have grown used to Hester and they are more accepting of her because "it is to credit the human nature, that except where selfishness is brought into play, it loves more readily than it hates."(140) Hester does not do anything to annoy or trouble the people, therefore they are without reason to judge and/or ridicule her.
Hester has taken an active role in bettering the well-being of the people as a whole by dedicating her time and labor to the less fortunate. Because she spends so much time helping others, they choose to change the A for adulteress to A for able. "The Scarlet letter had not done its office." (145)
But you could also say that the Scarlet letter has done a number on Hester. Her character changes to what would be almost repulsive if there was anyone close to her to be repulsed. Because of the adversity Hester has faced she has indeed changed to become a tougher woman in order to survive.
Hester has turned to thought, because she is alone in the world. It is speculated that if Hester did not have Pearl to raise she would have been a threat to the established Puritan society because of challenging convictions. If not for the Scarlet Letter damaging Hester's good standing, who knows what would have happened? The Scarlet Letter is supposed to be a punishment that is a message to uphold Puritan values so it has performed its office.

Chapter 13 office review

By chapter thirteen it has been seven years since Hester was marked down with the Scarlett letter mentally and physically on her chest. This also means that the sin of a daughter is also seven years old. The Scarlett letter has mentally and physically changed Hester for the good of her because Hester has grown from the horrible sin she committed and soon faced the life long debt of being looked at in a different way from the general public in her town. I think that the Scarlett letter has done its office and Hester has learned and became a better person from her past mistakes. Hester is a different woman from the one who committed a sin seven years ago and she has gave back to help other people. Hester gives back to other people by being a nurse to the sick people and she sows for others. She also is a main place to go when someone is in trouble. Hester has grown in many ways from the terrible sin she committed, which was having an affair with another man, who is Dimmesdale. She was married to Chillingworth, but still has not told the public and the people around her that Chillingworth is her husband. This is a way to protect Chillingworth and Dimmesdale from the truth and what could come of telling the truth. Overall, the Scarlett letter has done its office for Hester and she has grown past the letter to become a stronger woman.