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Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic American novel masterfully explores not only the historical and moral roots of America, but the terrible results of one sinful act upon all those involved. Hawthorne mixes Puritanism with the birth of Romanticism as he examines sin, guilt, vengeance, and redemption.
Hester Prynne has traveled alone to America to prepare a home for herself and her husband. In her husband's long absence Hester commits adultery and gives birth to a child. In accordance with the town's strict moral law, Hester is punished, (though leniently for this time period). She is sentenced to stand for several hours on the town's scaffold exposed to public shame and to wear a scarlet "A" for the rest of her life.
Hester's partner in sin, a prominent member of the community, remains silent about his own guilt, and Hester refuses to reveal his identity. Meanwhile, Hester's long-absent husband, Roger Chillingworth, returns on the very day Hester must endure her public humiliation. He decides to remain silent concerning his own identity but determines to seek revenge on Hester's lover.

Progeny Press English/Language Arts curriculum will provide your High School grade student with:

English/Language Arts credit: This is a one-quarter credit high school level Literature curriculum.
Background Information: Do some research to learn more about the early history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Romanticism, and Transcendentalism.
Author Biography
Vocabulary: Understand words used throughout the novel, utilizing a variety of activities to stimulate retention and growth.
Literary Techniques: Grammar and parts of speech, root words, foreshadowing, imagery, synonym, personification, compare & contrast, in context.
Moral Lessons and Character Values: Keeping secrets, lying, shame, penance, and martyrdom, judging others, correction and pride, vengeance, confession, subjective morality, reconciliation with God.
Activities and Writing Assignments: Pre-reading analysis papers on civil government, biblical view of sin, biblical response to people. Brook Farm research. Point-of-view summary essay. Puritanism research paper. Analyze patterns in novel.
Suggestions for Further Reading:  We include an in-depth reading list of more books by the same author(s) and other books that tie in with, or are similar to, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

All of Progeny Press' Language Arts unit lessons are written from a Christian perspective!

Features and Benefits of a Progeny Press ELA study guide

Printed Workbook Format

• Large 8.5x11 format is convenient to read and easy on tired teenage high school student's eyes
• Every question in our novel unit study has plenty of whitespace for high school level student’s answers
• Encourages neat and clean handwriting practice
• Easily transports without the need for a laptop or other expensive equipment
• Provides a permanent record of the student’s work
• Complete, removable answer key included for the teacher to make grading simple!

CD Format

• Provides the study guide in universally compatible PDF format (works on Mac AND Windows)
• No costly software purchases necessary
• Our PDF Study Guide should be opened with the FREE Adobe Reader program. With the interactive feature, students have the capability of entering their answers directly on the computer and saving their work in progress.
  Note: Mobile Devices/Tablets may require alternative app that supports and saves fillable form fields.
• Or choose to conveniently print what you need, when you need it:
• Print the whole ELA PDF guide at once
• Print single literature lessons or pages as the student completes them
• Print multiple copies of the entire curriculum study guide for classroom sets
• PDF format makes it easy to use with multiple students
• Complete answer key PDF file included for the teacher!

Formatted with your High School grade student in mind, Progeny Press language arts study guides divide the book into writing assignments and lessons that strengthen their reading comprehension, vocabulary, and refines their critical analysis and writing skills. Each Progeny Press novel study accomplishes all of this without busy work that can drain the fun out of reading and literature! Kids have loved using Progeny Press ELA curriculum in homeschool, co-ops, and private schools around the world for over 30 years!

Book Awards:
Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction • #20 on The 100 Greatest Novels of All Time • #16 on The 100 Best Novels Written in English