TERM PAPER IDEAS

1. Who is the main character in The Scarlet Letter, Hester

Prynne or Arthur Dimmesdale? Explain.

2. Contrast Dimmesdale and Chillingworth as scholars and men of intellect.

3. Compare Hester and Mistress Hibbins as women on the fringes of society.

4. Hester Prynne: The best or worst citizen of Boston

1642-1649.

5. Roger Chillingworth: Man? Fiend? Or both?

6. Governor Bellingham: A typical Puritan?

7. Discuss the double life of any leading character in the novel.

8. Write an entry in Hester Prynne's diary during any of the years covered by The Scarlet Letter.

9. Arthur Dimmesdale: A study in guilt.

10. Chillingworth to Hester: "I pity thee, for the good that has been wasted in thy nature!" Is Hester a waste?

11. Discuss a significant name in The Scarlet Letter.

12. Write a legal defense of Roger Chillingworth. Assume

Chillingworth does not die but is, instead, called before the court of Massachusetts to answer for his crimes. Make up a legal plea on his behalf.

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