Johntaylor1973's Reviews > The Scarlet Letter
My rating:
The Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
I found my old high school review of this book. Here's a little bit of my assessment. Apologiese in advance:
If there is a hell, Hawthorne is the devil's sidekick, and the first thing you're given (after the stark realization that you're in hell, on fire, and this is going to last forever) is this book. And you have to do a 10 page paper praising the wondrous virtues of this massive waste of time. And after you've finished writing (in your own blood, mind you) your stupid paper, you are given another essay topic dealing with this same insipid book. Congratulations, this is what you'll be doing for eternity.
Haha, I really DID NOT LIKE this book in HS, and it's part of the reason why I have always been apprehensive about US literature--especially the classics.
Now I'm a TEACHER and I'm going to revisit this monolith of high school trauma and I'll go into it with as much of an open mind as possible. I did the same thing with Old Man and the Sea (I remember loathing that book when I read it my freshmen year) and the second time around I LIKED IT!
I did not like either book because my teachers did not do a good job of selling it to me. There was little to no background, no setup, no explanation as to why we should read this--other than "ED Hirsch said you have to, so go read it."
Teaching 101: never have your students read a book that you yourself do not enjoy. I think my teachers disliked both books, and it rubbed off on their students.
If there is a hell, Hawthorne is the devil's sidekick, and the first thing you're given (after the stark realization that you're in hell, on fire, and this is going to last forever) is this book. And you have to do a 10 page paper praising the wondrous virtues of this massive waste of time. And after you've finished writing (in your own blood, mind you) your stupid paper, you are given another essay topic dealing with this same insipid book. Congratulations, this is what you'll be doing for eternity.
Haha, I really DID NOT LIKE this book in HS, and it's part of the reason why I have always been apprehensive about US literature--especially the classics.
Now I'm a TEACHER and I'm going to revisit this monolith of high school trauma and I'll go into it with as much of an open mind as possible. I did the same thing with Old Man and the Sea (I remember loathing that book when I read it my freshmen year) and the second time around I LIKED IT!
I did not like either book because my teachers did not do a good job of selling it to me. There was little to no background, no setup, no explanation as to why we should read this--other than "ED Hirsch said you have to, so go read it."
Teaching 101: never have your students read a book that you yourself do not enjoy. I think my teachers disliked both books, and it rubbed off on their students.
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You have a good point in the teaching philosophy. My teacher last year didn't like Walden so she only had us read 4 chapters of it and only because she wanted to prepare us for the AP test. Though because I knew she hated Walden, I disliked the book very much too.As for the Scarlet Letter, I thought it was good once you were reading it but if you stopped and started again the next day it would lose what was built up.
I'm not especially reverant of canonical American texts. And in high school, this book zipped by without any great fanfare, probably because it wasn't so difficult of a read. I didn't have to look up every other word or make a dossier of characters, like I was forced to do for Crime and Punishment. But in college, I was able to read this book under the tutelage (in the intimate setting of a 100+ student lecture hall) with Nina Baym and then I was able to realize that there was more to the evolution of how this book has been read.
http://www.las.uiuc.edu/news/2004fall/04...
If you want to merely quiz your students for comprehension and vocabulary, use whatever less "hell-like" book you manage to find. But if you want to embed within them the desire for critical reading and maybe even gender theory, try giving The Scarlett Letter another look.
Great review! I can sympathize. I read it in high school and hated it. I can't imagine trying to teach it. Bad times.
Yeah? Well try living it. I am in HS right now and I have an eight page essay due on this evil work of literature in several days. I absolutely HATED this book, especially the mind-numbing details. I do appreciate the way in which he sets the mood and develops the characters, but this book overall was difficult to endure. I had the same problem with Flaubert's descriptive writing in Mme. Bovary, yet I liked the book very much once I read it ... and got an A+ on the final test and essay!
Hey Elias! (cool name btw. That's part of my yahoo name, I based it on the movie Platoon:)
To be honest, I STILL haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I WILL. We have spring break coming up and I will grab it and take it with me.
I've been preoccupied with other books. Fun books. Like Zombie Survival Guide. Elias, check it out. It's really fun.
Good luck with your paper. I'll get to SL soon.
Ha!
"Congratulations, this is what you'll be doing for eternity."
How prophetically fitting. You have my most sincere sympathy!
Wow! You pretty much summed it up for me right there. I had to read it in high school and absolutely hated it and thought of it as a huge waste of my time. Then again, my teacher and I had a hate-hate relationship to begin with, and he probably didn't properly back the story up either. Seriously, what your high school essay says basically was what I wanted to say, except for the fact that I didn't have the balls to say it. AMEN! I have recently vowed to re read many of the classics that I read in high school, this, however, will not be one of them! Thanks for the hilarious, yet truthful insight on this hellacious read.
I couldn't agree more with the reviewer. Popping the audio version of this book in my mp3 player and listening to the INTRODUCTION almost made me want to slit my wrists. I can't imagine the main text. Oh well, I have to get through it though as it is on my reading list goals.
I like many people here read the book in high school and hated it. In fact it is rare that I like an early American text.
Ha ha ha. I loved your review and I remember my high school paper on this book started off in the same tone. Of course your version was way more comical. ;) I think this book was long winded and boring. I remember opening the book and seeing that the forward/prologue/introduction was super fricken long and knowing I was in trouble and in for a snooze fest.Anyway... thanks for the giggles. Great review.
I do not have a degree in education but am convinced it must include some courses in how to make books completely hateful to your students.
Hahaha! This just about sums up my feelings for this book. I was recently forced to read it in the hell I like to call AP English. :D
As a junior in high school, I loathe the book... But I have enough sense to know that it would most likely be a good read, if I didn't have to rhetorically analyze the life out of it.
Maybe I'll try again someday.
I read this book voluntarily because my grandma said I'd like it after spending fifteen minutes telling her how much I loved A Tale of Two Cities. Your description summarizes my pain. Thank you.
honestly, I was forced to read this my sophmore year and I did not enjoy it. I could not fathom it so I didn't learn to appreciate it.
I LOVE this review as I feel precisely the same way you did about Hawthorne. In fact, I hated nearly all of the supposedly 'great' classic lit crap that they forced us to read and analyze to death in high school and college.
Personally, I absolutely adored this book(of course so did the woman who taught it to me), but this review cracked me up anyway! Hope you enjoyed it more the second time around.
I liked this book, but I also had a good setup for it and am a bastard child born in the bible belt so I get it. Regardless your review is epic. I've had no joy in reading most of the books that would make me appear well read and as a student a good background helped me reap the most from works like these.
i love this book and when i teach it, my students appreciate it as well. so i think you're right, if you don't like what you teach, that will definitely come across to your students.
I think your teaching philosophy is fine, but my high school teacher LOVED this book--really, really loved it so so much!--and I still hated this book. As a matter of fact, I read this book on my own before it was ever required reading and hated it, so I had no teacher or anyone else to base an opinion, just my own assessment. My enthusiastic high school teacher did not improve my own thoughts on this book, just got on my nerves a little that she kept hammering at me because I hadn't liked this book she loved. So, don't go too far in the other direction and choose only books you love, because that might make it difficult for you to take student criticisms.
point taken kelly. i would never critize my students for not liking the book. on the contrary. i would welcome a discussion about why they didn't like it. and i would hope they could articulate their thoughts rather than say, "it's boring." which is what most of them want to say!
