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The Custom House

Question #1:

The primary purpose for the Custom House introduction is to give the readers a preview of what’s going to happen in the novel. “And yet it strangely interested me. My eyes fastened themselves upon the old scarlet letter, and would not be turned aside.” (Hawthorne, pg.31) The narrator has taken a great interest in the letter he has found. Seeing how the author describes the physical condition of the letter and how the author has the narrator so mesmerized by it, readers can assumed that the letter has some significance in the story. Hawthorne put the discovery of the letter in there for a reason. Readers should know that the same letter or even the contents within it may pop up again in later chapter. That is the meaning of a preview before the first chapter.

In order for readers to understand a book and have a preview of what they think is going to happen, they are going to need background information. A lot of things were mentioned in the introductory chapter such as, the Custom House, Jonathon Pue, Hester Prynne, and the scarlet letter. Let’s say the Custom House chapter was omitted. When a person reads the rest of the book, they are going to be confused. All these different places and names are coming out of nowhere without any information behind it. That is exactly where the introduction comes in.

Question #2:

The significant change Hawthorne admits to making is the new found interest in writing. “I have invariably confined myself within the limits of the old Surveyor’s half a dozen sheets of foolscap. On the contrary, I have allowed myself, as to such points, nearly or although as much license as if the facts had been entirely of my own invention.” (Hawthorne, pg.32) Hawthorne, or the narrator, finds Jonathon Pue’s old letters about the life of Hester Prynne. He makes the decision to write his own version of the story. When he says, “as if the facts had been entirely of my own invention,” he means that the contents are going to be similar but he’s going to add more things and write it in his own particular style. Jonathon Pue’s version is like a source that Hawthorne is using to write his own piece.

Hawthorne’s interest in writing caused him to forget other things, such as the Custom House. “The life of the Custom House lies like a dream behind me.” (Hawthorne, pg.43) It’s ironic how Hawthorne talks so bad about the Custom House now. Before, he took great pride as the “chief executive officer.” Some may even say he was a little cocky and conceited about it. Now it is just a thing in the past. Writing was probably something he had desires to do, so when he finally does something about it, nothing can get in his way.

Question #3:

This change may impact more stress onto Hawthorne and his writing process. “A writer of story-books! What kind of a business in life…may that be? Why, the degenerate fellow might as well have been a fiddler!” (Hawthorne, pg.10) His forefathers look down upon of making a living as an author. It’s crazy how they would prefer him to be a fraud than a writer of books. That puts a huge amount of pressure on Hawthorne’s shoulders. Not only does his family disapprove of his choice, but he has to prove himself worthy of an author.

Hawthorne may also become stressed in the process of completing his work. For example, a person may come into a class where he has no experience of doing the type of work the teacher is making them do. He may become overwhelmed because he is not used to doing this type of work. Hawthorne is similar to that. Writing is not something he’s used to so he may have the urged to give up. That’s when the stress starts to build up.

Anne Bradstreet Response

Everybody has a talent in which they want to make a good first impression when they show it off to other people. Anne Bradstreet was no different, especially in a time where women are only looked upon as taking care of the kids and cleaning around the house. “The Author to Her Book” portrays Bradstreet’s love for her work and the internal struggle of embarrassment and shame when it was published. This could be shown through her use of diction, pathos, and figurative language.

There are some parts of the poem where Anne Bradstreet expresses her love for writing and creating new ideas. “Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain, who after birth didst by my side remain…” (Bradstreet, lines 1-2) This is just the beginning of new ideas that she wants to write about. Bradstreet is already calling it her “offspring” or her “child.” When individuals have a possession that they cherish and have great value to them, they often give it a nickname of some sort. For example, when a man has a prize possession, such a car, he refers to it as “baby” or actually gives it a real name. Anne Bradstreet is very similar to that. Her poetry is very valuable to her; it’s what helps her get through the day. Since it’s something she came up with and created from her mind, writing down her ideas in a form of poetry is like giving birth to a child.

There more parts of the poem where Bradstreet is having a conflict involving embarrassment and shame. “Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true, who thee abroad, exposed to public view…” (Bradstreet, lines 3-4) Some friends of hers took her writings and published it without her permission. People would define “snatched” as something that’s rude and not the proper way to grab something. Bradstreet used that to convey a sense of betrayal that she may have felt when her work was published. “Made thee in rags, halting to th’ press to trudge, where errors were not lessoned (all may judge). At thy blushing was not small…” (Bradstreet, lines 5-7) She compares her work to rags because it was not finished. There were so many changes and errors she had to correct for it to be “from rags to riches.” Because Bradstreet is a woman, critics are hard on her as it is. Once they look at her unfinished work, they’re going to be even harder on her and completely just put her down. For that, she is “blushing” because she is embarrassed that is was published before she did any editing to it. People may have sympathy towards her because first impressions are everything and her chance of that with that particular piece is over. “My rambling brat (in print) should mother call, I cast thee by as one unfit for light…” (Bradstreet, lines 8-9) The word “rambling” suggests that she had so many thoughts waiting to be expressed in literary excellence but she never got the chance. It wasn’t ready for public view at that moment; therefore, it was “unfit for light.” “I washed thy face, but more defects I saw, and rubbing off a spot still made a flaw.” (Bradstreet, lines 13-14) Bradstreet has a burning desire to erase any errors that was in her published poetry. It still made a flaw because it was already printed. There was nothing she can do because people have already seen her mistakes. Critics were already judging.

Anne Bradstreet has her own unique way to express her feelings through the art of poetry. When you really take the time to study it, you will learn that even you may be able to relate.

Anne Bradstreet Bio

Anne Bradstreet was born in 1612 in Northampton, England. Her father, Thomas Dudley, managed the affairs of the Earl of Lincoln and was also the leader of volunteer soldiers to Queen Elizabeth. Her mother, Dorothy Yorke, was a well-mannered woman, who was highly educated. Anne married an assistant in the Massachusetts Bay Company named Simon Bradstreet. He was 25 years old: she was only 16. Anne and her family migrated on a three month journey to America in 1630.

While Simon was away on political duties as Chief-Administrator, Anne read her father’s collection of books and educated her children. When she wrote poetry, it was kept private. One day, her brother-in-law copied her work and brought it back to England to have it published in 1650. Her first collection was called “The Tenth Muse Lately sprung up in America, By a Gentlewoman of Those Parts,” which was also the only one to be published during her lifetime. Her poetry was mostly based on life experience and her love for her husband and family. Anne battled with illness and finally died on September 16, 1672 in Massachusetts.

http://www.annebradstreet.com/anne_bradstreet_bio_001.htm

Cabeza de Vaca picture

This picture is a perfect example of bad decisions. A moth is an insect closely related to a butterfly. Obviously, by its small body, a moth is not fit for the job of steering a boat. That decision eventually leads to a horrific result. A boat is now destroyed, the moth is most likely dead, and the supplies or the valuable belongings on that ship are destroyed along with the boat. Another thing is that too many animals are on that one boat. That little boat can not hold up all that weight. That’s another disaster waiting to happen.

This image is related to the Cabeza de Vaca article because the article also has a part where bad decisions are made. Cabeza de Vaca was part of the Narvaez expedition. Narvaez was considered to be a self-centered man and a poor leader. Despite of that, he was the captain of the whole journey. The crew made the bad decision to place him as the leader or even joining the expedition in the first place. Like the picture above, ships were destroyed and eventually it was every man for himself. Only four survived, including Cabeza de Vace. The article and the picture is a perfect example of “think before you act.”

christopher columbus picture

As students learned in their history books, settlers who came to the new world took land from the Native Americans. Christopher Columbus was no different.
In this picture, Columbus is portrayed as a real-estate agent. He is basically trying to "buy" the land from the Native American people. The picture adds a comedic feel to the overall visual. In the text, there was a part where it says Columbus was actually friendly to the Taino Indians at one point. "Apparently friendly relations with the Taino Indians on the island of Hispaniola in 1492..." In the visual, Columbus approaches the Indian people in a nice way. This shows how Columbus first makes the Indians trust him, making them believe that he is no harm to them. Once he gets to the point where he has the Indian's full trust, he turns against them. Unfortunately for Columbus, that didn't happen to him at that particular time.

Christopher Columbus Response

Kiesha Garrett

September 7, 2008

Christopher Columbus Response

When you think about explorers, what comes to mind? Christopher Columbus will probably be one of the most common responses. On his four voyages, Columbus had continuous events of disasters. This article appeals to pathos to catch the reader’s attention.

Some things did not go Christopher Columbus’s way throughout his four voyages between 1492 and 1504. “Apparently friendly relations with the Taino Indians on the island of Hispaniola in 1492 turned sour as the settlers Columbus left behind demanded gold and sexual partners from their hosts; on his return there in 1494, none of the Europeans were alive.” (Paragraph 1) When a person reads this, they would probably show some sympathy for Columbus. Just when he thought everything was good between the settlers and the Indians, he sees that it wasn’t. Rather his motives was to really get along with the Indians or to slowly ease his way into getting what he wants, his settlers messed that up for him. The reader can feel the disappointment when he discovers that all his followers were dead. “…he encountered Spanish setters there in open rebellion against his authority.” (Paragraph 1) It’s hard to find out that people, who you thought was on your side, is now against you. That’s a major blow to your heart because now you feel alone and betrayed. “His last voyage, intended to recoup his tarnished reputation, resulted in a long period of suffering in Panama and shipwreck in Jamaica, and these outer woes were accompanied by nearly delusional periods as Columbus underwent a virtual breakdown.” (Paragraph 1) His last chance to prove himself ended in a horrible disaster. Columbus’s last chance to recover his reputation ended up making it worse than it already was. It’s difficult to go through that kind of embarrassment. There has been a time when some people have tried to do something to better themselves but ends up failing. Those people can relate to Columbus and feel bad for him because they went through the same thing.

Christopher Columbus went through some difficult times during his four voyages at sea. This article uses pathos to drill in the reader's full attention.

simile bellringer

A pine tree is like a conceited dog