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Course Keeping: Two paper due dates were changed. The last 4 pg paper is now due on April 28th. The final paper is due on May 16th along with the portfolio. 

Notes:

-We talked about religion on campus week and why "I believe" is a statement under attack for being weak.

-Blogs and the public response to them..ex: the blog titled, "What White People Like". Is it snarky? It was called that.

- SL is not an autobiography, it is a novel with autobiographical elements. 

-Where did Dimmesdale get his letter A? Was it self inflicted, caused by Chillingworth, or his remorse gnawing out of his body?

-Some spectators saw nothing on Dimmesdale.

-We (21st century people/readers) believe in the power of physical action as opposed to spiritual action.  

-Masks as blank slates and characters. They allow you to explore a part of yourself that doesn't necessarily go along with how you normally identify yourself.

- Hester wears her mask for so long that she takes on its qualities.

-We could read this novel as a mask.

-You can't unread anything, but you can interpret it differently. Would Hawthorne we happy if we were satisfied with the ending of the story or the ending we chose?

-He would have wanted us to be unsettled and he went out of his way to have an unsettling ending to the novel.

-What does it mean to have reverence in someone's soul? Dimmesdale put Hesters soul at risk by committing adultery with her.  

-Does this book want us to be puritans and pass judgement?

-What does Pearl's inherited wealth mean? She was a demon child who represented a broken law, but was then rewarded. Does this show the lawless become lawful?

-Hester came back and continued to wear the A. Why? Her life is defined by her love for Dimmesdale and her life is more "real" here than in Europe. By going to Europe she would have been putting on more of a mask.

-This novel could be a cry for women's equality and about oppressed women (Hester).

Lastly: what does the A stand for?

Apple, Adultery, Actor, Artist, Awe, Absolute, America, Atheist, Angel, Apostle, Ambiguity, Aberration...etc