Isolation in the Scarlet Letter Essay Example

Isolation in the Scarlet Letter Essay Throughout the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne emphasizes the intricate themes of isolation and alienation. Using a variety of literary techniques and descriptions of emotions and nature, Hawthorne is able to fully depict the inner feelings of hurt suffered by the central characters as a result of severe loneliness and seclusion. This, therefore, further adds to the overall gloomy and cynical atmosphere of the work. Isolation and alienation, two forms of torturous estrangement, are experienced by the key figures, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth, each due to different situations and to various degrees. Overall, The Scarlet Letter is primarily concerned with the thoughts and feelings of Hester Prynne. Hester, being an outcast of society, experiences the most evident and apparent form of isolation and alienation. As a symbol of sin, Hester is viewed by the strict Puritanical town as an outsider, a presence of evil, and, ultimately, one who is detested by God. The towns harsh condemnation of Hester is revealed through a local womans comment, †¦at the very least, they should have put the brand of hot iron on Hester Prynnes forehead (36). Although this dire attitude towards Hester does eventually improve, due to her many benevolent works for the poor, she never truly does escape the feelings of lonesomeness and segregation present in her life. This fact is further stressed by Hawthornes exclusion of all conversation and dialogues, a usage of context and form, in chapter five to demonstrate that Hester has absolutely no communication with the world beyond her occasional trips to town to receive and deliver embroidery orders. Described as dark and inscrutable. The forest, in contrast, provides Hester with a secluded habitat in which she may seek truth and escape the glares of humanity, though all the while downhearted and alone (54). A more private and hidden feeling of isolation and alienation is conveyed through Arthur Dimmesdale. Unlike Hester, who has been thrown into a life of dejection by society, Dimmesdale inflicts this desolation upon himself. Dimmesdale, unable and unwilling to publicly reveal his sin, continu es to be haunted by his own guilt, and consequently feels inner isolation towards humankind. We will write a custom essay sample on Isolation in the Scarlet Letter specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Isolation in the Scarlet Letter specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Isolation in the Scarlet Letter specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Nonetheless, the entire town embraces Dimmesdale as a messenger of God and a miracle of holiness who should be greatly admired and respected (98). Paradoxically, Dimmesdale views himself as an evil fiend and punished himself with daily abuse and starvation. In the end, when Dimmesdale finally does release his guilt and shame, he succumbs to sickness and dies, feeling for the very first time, true happiness and peace. As the impious revenge-seeking villain of the novel, Roger Chillingworth undergoes the most concealed and obscure form of alienation and isolation. Not only is he physically separated from his companion, Hester, and the townspeople, who suspect evil intervention, but is also mentally detached from himself. To exhibit this transformation, Hawthorne expresses the character of Roger Chillingworth primarily through private contemplation; Chillingworth exposes his true self only through his thoughts. With exception to Hester, Chillingworth speaks to no other person about his plans or motives. Following his vow to uncover Hesters secret lover, Chillingworth slowly begins to lose his true identity to the devil. Such pure wickedness causes Chillingworth to eventually withdraw from his prior life and isolate himself to live in a world, which through his eyes, only contains bitterness and hate. Although Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth all experience alienation and isolation, each endures a different aspect and to various extents. Hester is alienated from her fellow man and is completely cut off from a life of customariness and normality. On the other hand, Dimmesdale, essentially the towns public figure, feels alone in the fact that he is the sole person, besides Hester, to really understand the true man within himself. This agonizing wound is so strong that it eventually takes his life. However, Chillingworth is the character that goes through the most harsh and excruciating form of torture. To surrender to evil and watch oneself gradually wither away due to ones own choice is one of the most unbearable pains known to man. Revealing the sinister sides of humanity, The Scarlet Letter expresses the torment and anguish that humanity sets upon each other through hypocritical laws and its rejection of love and passion in favor of principles and morality. The agony of isolation and alienation that Hester and Dimmesdale go through, which directly extends to Chillingworths distress, is caused by the firm belief, by the town, that they are responsible for the extermination of all existing sin on earthy, though they themselves sin. IN addition, Hawthorne explains that society, in judging people according to what they themselves believe to be proper and ethical is, appallingly to claim to be flawless and equal to the superiority of God himself. This moral dilemma further points out the dishonesty of humankind and, above all, its inability to be true.

Essay Topics For Effective College Writing

Essay Topics For Effective College WritingAlthough the rule of thumb for an elementary persuasive essay is to include as many topics as possible in your essay, you can start to lose some control over the types of topics you choose when you enter high school. These types of topics that you choose may be ones that are more difficult or that do not align with the subject of your essay topic. If you want to avoid these types of topics and instead get a good grasp on how to write an effective persuasive essay on a topic, keep reading.One of the first elementary persuasive essay topics, you can consider is language. Whether you choose the language of your historical figures, your current leaders, or your long-term goals, it will be important for you to provide all your audience with clear and concise language. While you should keep your arguments simple and to the point, there should be enough space between your sentences so that the words flow into each other and are easy to understand.An other essay topic, you can consider is one on which you have a personal connection to. No matter what type of person you are speaking to, whether it is a high school student who has recently graduated or a college student who wants to become a public relations specialist, knowing how to write an essay on their experience could be important. The fact that you are taking time to take the time to write an essay on the experiences of those who mean the most to you could help you gain the trust of those who are reading your essay.Finally, one of the most persuasive essay topics you can consider is one on which you have knowledge. No matter what type of business you are involved in, whether it is an online e-commerce store or an accounting firm, writing an essay on the business' experiences may provide you with some insight to the business. Understanding how to write an essay on your business' success or failure can help you gain new ideas on how to run your business and make it more succ essful.No matter what types of topics you choose to take on with your persuasive essay topics, it is important to keep your subject as simple as possible. Don't try to build up a history on the history of the topic; your focus should be on the content of your essay. Be sure to use the introductory paragraph at the beginning of your essay to give your audience a sense of the subject and give them a way to ask you any questions they may have about the subject.Always take the time to clearly describe the main points of your persuasive essay topics. It is important that you have a straight forward and effective way to write an essay because readers may need to decide for themselves what you are trying to say. If you can't explain what you are trying to say in plain language, they will not be able to understand it or even care about your opinion.Make it easy for readers to connect with your persuasive essay topics. Focus on the ideas and facts and highlight the things that are important to the reader. Take the time to provide the necessary background information and perhaps even include a few interesting facts about your subject.You can easily turn your persuasive essay topics into great topics for college essays. And you will be able to do this as long as you know how to write an effective essay. However, remember that the subject of your essay does not mean that you cannot also write an engaging essay on any topic, so long as you pay attention to the basic rules of essay writing.

Hedges in Linguistics

The definitions of Hedges by various Linguists According to Nikula (1997, p.188), hedging is a technique in communication which speakers employ in their utterances to ‘soften’ their magnitude of their speeches. The approach aims at enhancing agreement between the speaker and the listeners. In short, he suggests that it helps to bring the hearers and the speakers to the same levels and enhance understanding and acceptability.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Hedges in Linguistics specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Hedging applies most in situations that deal with criticism. The approach therefore, acts as a tool to cool down the tempers of the hearers by making them accept the speaker’s views. Hedging can act a substitute to politeness or a means in which the speaker uses his utterances consciously in order to find acceptability thereby avoiding any negative perception from his/her listeners. Lako ff (1972, p.195) refers the strategy as ‘face’ which he uses to mean, â€Å"Making things less fuzzy.† The original application of the word hedging meant â€Å"expressions, which show some words modifying others like ‘sort of’, ‘kind of’† (Markkanen Schroder 1997, p.4) among others. A good example is â€Å"a cat is kind of a cheetah family species†. The illustration shows how the use of hedge changes the affiliation that exists between a cat and a cheetah. Clemen (1997, p.238) criticizes Lakoff of basing on logical relationships in his use of words and some semantic hedging facets by not putting in mind the context as one of the most imperative aspect in giving hedges their outright meaning rather than viewing them as self-determining lexical. Other people have seconded the idea of Lakoff asserting that the techniques employed in almost all languages seems often used by various speakers in their conversations. Furthermore, other linguists have used the foundation of Lakoff to build on the idea of hedging for instance, Mauranen (2004, p.173) who views hedging â€Å"†¦ as pragmatic apart from its semantic phenomenon.† He asserts that hedges not only convey semantic phenomenon but also contribute to pragmatic strategies like alleviation and courtesy in a communication process. Hedges also refer to elements in relations that link the slit between the writer’s versions and the information found in the text. Hedges therefore â€Å"†¦contribute in terms of semantics to statements they feature† (Lyons 1977, p.196).Advertising Looking for essay on linguistics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More On the other hand, hedges act as devices in linguistics that alter the archetypal words or items for example, â€Å"a lion is a kind of animal† (Coates 1987, p.21). Hedges play a very crucial role for instance enhancing relation ships. Functions of Hedges Hedges Soften Face-Threatening Acts Hedging serves a variety of functions in the linguistic aspects of the day-to-day interactions. Markkanen and Schroder (1989, p.89), provides a lengthy discussion of some of the functions hedges plays. One of the functions of hedges is that they soften face threatening acts when it comes to disparagement, complains or suggestions. For instance, a speaker may use them in his/her speech to suggest an idea in a different manner thereby fostering consensus and avoiding any kind of disagreement between him/her and the listeners. For instance, the speaker will employ words like ‘i’m sorry to have hurt you’ or ‘forgive me for disturbing you’ among others. Therefore, through the employment of hedges, the speaker will create these relationships of mutual by making his or her utterances less strong. Hedges Specify the Speaker’s Communication Approach Furthermore, the use of hedges functions to make the speaker’s communication approach specific for instance, a statement like ‘would you mind coming tomorrow?’ A speaker may address about an event or a topic, which he/she does not agree. As a result, he/she might employ hedges to hide his/her true position. Therefore, he/she will employ these hedges to fit into the shoes of the listeners to hide his/her feeling and opinions about the topic. Therefore, the strategy assists him to avoid contradictions and doubt among his listeners. Hedges play an ‘Illocutionary Force’ Function â€Å"†¦hedges play a function of ‘illocutionary force’ encoded in some particles which constitute to frequently used words but which do not appear in dictionaries and given little attention in their use or study or language† (Brown Levinson 1987, p.89). These words feature in the spoken words of speakers and therefore adapt to level his/her words thereby avoiding the aforementioned face threat ening acts. Statements like ‘I’m kind of busy’ or ‘I feel some sort of sick’ illustrate this function. Hedges specify quality and relevance Other hedges specifically address relevance, prices, quality, manner maxims, and quantity among others. They also postulate that hedges achieve politeness function for example words like, ‘honest enough’, ‘frankly’ among others. Likewise, Clemen (1997, p.32) comment on hedge â€Å"as captivating and refreshing. To him, hedges are phrases or words that weaken or soften the force in the way of saying a certain idea†.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Hedges in Linguistics specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Example is words like â€Å"any chance†, â€Å"sort of† among other. According to Carter, hedges are used to present different impressions like uncertainty or used to qualify the already spoken words like, â€Å"well,† â€Å"sorted,† â€Å"kind of†. Other uses include different description of maxim of quality and enhancing communication like use of words like â€Å"I feel,† â€Å"I guess†. They also used to bring the speaker and the listener to a common mind set of sharing or point of view through use of terms like â€Å"you know†, â€Å"is it true?† According to Clemen (1997, p.47), hedges perform the function of caution, engagement, background, requesting, reproving as well as stating. Use of hedges serves to avoid making unnecessary conclusions and assertions thereby providing a solution by filling gaps that may result if an earlier intended task goes contrary to the projected plans. Hedges indicate some level of uncertainty Hedges also play a function of indicating some doubt when speakers use them especially in addressing technical issues (Lyons 1977, p.797) or to soften their utterances to ensure acceptance (Nikula 1997, p. 188) viewed as personal politeness functions of hedging. Therefore, hedging has found prominence in most of the third world countries as leaders use it to tone down their positions and view as people continue to witness bad leadership. Since they seem aware of how the people doubt their powers, they often employ words like ‘well’, ‘kind of’ and ‘sorter’ among others to accommodate the doubt. Hedging acts as a way of achieving preciseness where as speakers do not wish the hearers to know the true or their real positions. Hedging does not provide cover to an assertion but need to be treated as a rational for interpersonal strategy whereby it should seek to ensure that relationship between the writer and reader is established. Some statements arouse different meaning to their readers for instance; â€Å"it is important to think before making a decision†¦appropriate insights into the benefits should have been looked up before making up the de cision† (Brown and Levinson 1987, p.94). This could imply ingenuity and uncertainty on the part of the speaker or reflect polite and diplomatic disagreement.Advertising Looking for essay on linguistics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Hedging therefore, falls on the category of negative politeness through its disconnection of speaker by distancing them away from the contents they make; it makes the conversation fuzzier. On the other hand, hedging softens a criticism making the listeners take in whatever the speaker says easily. As we have seen, functions of hedging can often overlap (Mauranen 2004, p.176) an approach adopted by Markkanen and Luukka (1997, p.168) who in their point of view, see hedging as a mega strategy with sub strategies. Various linguists have suggested a number of hedges. Various types of Hedges As the researchers continue to engage in their work, attempts to reclassify the traditional meaning of hedges into various approaches have emerged. Prince (1982, p.2) has suggested subdivision of hedges into various categories. One of the categories is the approximators, which hold a semantic purpose, shields as those serving a pragmatic role. In addition, diffusers serve as another class of hedges. D iffusers play a function of providing a broader view of an aspect by making it look even more appealing. He further suggests understatements and hedges while others like Hyland (1998, p. 23) analyzed in detail the functions of hedges and later distinguished between alleviation and equivocation. Other categories of hedging include the employment of ‘modal auxiliary verbs’, which seem the most widely used in the contemporary English based on their modernity. It includes expressions such as could, can, would and many others. Modal lexical verbs commonly known as speech act verbs are also a way of hedging. They serve in performing actions involving doubts, and evaluation as opposed to description. They include words like â€Å"to seem,† â€Å"to tend† among others. Adjective, adverb and nominal modal phrases like possible, nouns like claim adverbs like â€Å"likely† among others too function as hedges. Other categories include approximators of quantity, frequency; degree and time like ‘often’, occasionally, ‘lot of’ among others. Introductory phrases used include; â€Å"we acknowledge,† â€Å"we feel that†. All these show a sense of belonging and association and therefore bring the speaker and the listener closer. â€Å"If clauses† are also an example of or a type of hedges mostly used. They include statements like, if anything, among others. Speakers also use compound hedges. This type of hedges take up several hedges including those consisting of modal auxiliary in conjunction with lexical verb combined with hedge content. Example is â€Å"it could appear†. Other types of compound hedge includes those of lexical verb like ‘then’ and the hedging adverb or adjective, like, â€Å"It looks probable† among many others. Reference List Brown, P., Levinson, C., 1987. Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Clemen, G., 1997. The Concept of Hedging: Origins, Approaches and Definitions.  Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Coates, J., 1987. Epistemic Modality and Spoken Discourse. Transactions of the Philological Society, 85 (2): pp. 100 – 131. Hyland, K., 1998. Hedging in Scientific Research Articles. Amsterdam: John Benjamin’s Publishing Company. Lakoff, G., 1972. Hedges: A Study of Meaning Criteria and the Logic of Fuzzy Concepts. Chicago: Chicago University Press. Lyons, J., 1977. Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Markkanen, R. Schroder, H., 1989. Hedging as a Translation Problem in Scientific Texts.  Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Markkanen, R. Schroder, H., 1997. Hedging and Discourse: Approaches to the  Analysis of a Pragmatic Phenomenon in Academic Texts. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Markkanen, R., Luukka, M., 1997. Impersonalization as a Form of Hedging. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. 168 – 187. Mauranen, A., 1997. Hedging in Language Revisers’ H ands. Chicago: Chicago University Press. Nikula, T., 1997. Inter-Language View on Hedging. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Prince, E., 1982. On Hedging in Physician-Physician Discourse. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. 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