Transcript How to use Quotes/Embed Quotes

The Scarlet Letter
Who committed the Greatest Sin?
 “Had
a man seen old Roger
Chillingworth, at that moment of his
ecstasy, he would have had no need to
ask how Satan comports himself when a
precious human soul is lost to heaven and
won into his kingdom” (Hawthorne 135).
 The citation “(Hawthorne 135)” tells the
reader that the quote came from page
135 of Hawthorne’s book and is not an
original comment of the paper writer.
 The
citation (author’s name and page
number) is typed inside parenthesis.
 The parenthesis are placed after the
quotation marks and before the period to
show author ownership.
 This
means using bits and pieces of a
longer quote with in your own sentence.
 For example
• Hawthorne blatantly compares Roger
Chillingworth to Satan himself and lets the
reader see just “how Satan comports himself
when a precious human soul is lost to heaven
and won into his kingdom” (135).
 “Had
a man seen old Roger
Chillingworth, … he would have had no
need to ask how Satan comports himself
when a precious soul is lost to heaven a
nd won into his kingdom” (Hawthorne
135).
 The ellipses show that part of the quote
was omitted for length purposes.
 Start the paragraph with a topic sentence.
 Next, what is your major point?
 Use a quote that shows the major point.
 Explain in 2 sentences how that quote displays
your major point.
 What is your next major point?
 Use a quote that shows the major point.
 Explain in 2 sentences how that quote displays
your major point.
 Conclusive statement.

The most convincing reason Chillingworth’s sin could be
considered the worst was his forethought. Hester’s and
Dimmesdale’s sins were not planned, and they regretted
them afterward. Roger Chillingworth premeditated his
actions, even as early as his first meeting with Hester in the
fourth chapter. He said, “There are few things . . . hidden
from a man who devotes himself earnestly and unreservedly
to the solution of a mystery . . . Sooner or later, he must
needs be mine!” (Hawthorne 70) Having previously
determined his actions, he therefore acted without regret,
with full knowledge of what he was doing. “He seeks the
deliberate destruction of others rather than a redress of
wrongs” (Spark Notes Editors). This was the case even
before he knew whom he wanted to destroy.

Dimmesdale sinned horribly by not being there for his daughter, Pearl. Pearl
is a very important in the Scarlet Letter because she symbolized many things.
To her mother she is a treasure and to the town she is a demon. To
Dimmesdale, Pearl is a constant reminder that he is not taking responsibility
for his sin of adultery. Not recognizing Pearl as his daughter and making her
think she has no father is cruel of Dimmesdale. In the Spark Notes version of
the The Scarlet Letter it says, “His cruel denial of love to his own child may be
seen as further perpetrating evil” (12). Pearl finally stops being wild and
demon-like when Dimmesdale confesses his sin to the congregation, stands
with her and Hester on the scaffold, and kisses her cheek. Pearl’s sudden
change in behavior shows how much she needed to be accepted by her father
and how much his neglect affected her. “And as her tears fell upon her father’s
cheek, they were the pledge that she would grow up amid human joy and
sorrow, nor forever do battle with the world, but be a woman in it” (Hawthorne
209). This expresses how Pearl became more human-like when her father
showed his love for her.

Perhaps Hester and Dimmesdale’s crime did merit a punishment,
but Roger Chillingworth perverted that sense of justice and
became crazed by his desire for revenge. This overwhelming
anger may have stemmed from the hurt of Hester’s rejection or,
more likely, from the humiliation that ensued. “Evil, in its most
poisonous form, is found in the carefully plotted and precisely
aimed revenge of Chillingworth . . . He is interested in revenge,not
justice . . .” (Spark Notes). In fact, when Hester cornered him on the
beach to demand that he stop torturing the Reverend,
Chillingworth admits to craving for vengeance. “But it was the
constant shadow of my presence! – the closest propinquity of the
man whom he had most vilely wronged! – and who had grown to
exist only by this perpetual poison of the direst revenge”
(Hawthorne 169). What may have begun as a righteous crusade to
set right what was wrong, very quickly turned into a deadly
disease. It infected Chillingworth so deeply that it soon became
his life’s errand to make Dimmesdale pay for what he did.
 (Kaul
16-17).
 (Colacurcio 33).
 (Dibble 63-64).
 (Dibble 66).
 (“The Scarlet Letter”).
 (Hawthorne 120).