Romanticism and the Scarlet Letter essays

Romanticism and the Scarlet Letter essays Romanticism is categorized as a preference for simplicity and naturalness, a love of plain feelings and truth to common place reality, especially as found in natural scenes. Nathaniel Hawthorne was an anti-transcendentalist and believed in the dark side of man, hence his dark romantic novel The Scarlet Letter. This allegorical novel depends heavily on symbol and character. The novel is chock full of symbolic dimension of images, characters, and descriptions. The Scarlet Letter defines the American Romanticist movement while using symbolic characters and places that give the book seemingly two different stories. The first story denotes the story going on in the book, including the characters. The other story has symbols that speak on morals, religious doctrine, and public mindset. Furthermore the novel can be defined as a romantic novel by analyzing the characters Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale for their overall purpose to the story and the symbolism. An important concept of romanticism includes a close connection to the earth and natural scenes. A large occurrence of this comes in the first chapter of the book. The chapter mentions a rose bush outside of the prison. The novel then goes on to outline the rosebush as a beautiful thing that rises out of a bad place. The rosebush symbolizes a beauty that can not be taken away, the human spirit, like that of Hawthorne himself and also of Hester. In addition the prison represents Puritan society, with all of its strict social and moral rules of conduct, and the rose bush symbolizes the individual, standing defiantly on their own, lively and strong, in spite of the society as a whole, against them. Hawthornes use of the rosebush implies that there may be an indestructible human impulse that can survive in people despite social order and natural rights. Another romantic nature symbol is the forest, which symbolizes both safe and evil aspects. An instance of the ...

Identifing the North American Gums

Identifing the North American Gums The tupelos, or sometimes called pepperidge tree, are members of a small genus called Nyssa. There are only about 9 to 11 species worldwide. They are known to grow in mainland China and eastern Tibet and North America. The North American tupelo has alternate, simple leaves and the fruit is a single drupe containing seed. These seed capsules float and are distributed over major wetland areas where the tree regenerates. Water tupelo is especially adept at seed dispersal along waterways. Most, especially water tupelo, are highly tolerant of wet soils and flooding, some needing to grow in such environments to ensure future regeneration. Only two important species are native to eastern North America and none live naturally in the Western states. Black Tupelo or Nyssa sylvatica is the most common true gum in North America and grows from Canada to Texas. Another common tree that is called a gum is sweetgum and is actually an entirely different tree species classification called Liquidambar. The fruit and leaves of sweetgum look nothing like these true gums. Water tupelo or Nyssa aquatica is a wetland tree living mostly along the coastal plain from Texas to Virginia. Water tupelos range reaches far up the Mississippi River to southern Illinois. It is most often found in swamps and near perennial wet areas and a companion tree to baldcypress. Tupelos are highly valued honey plants in the Southeastern and Gulf Coast states, producing a very light, mild-tasting honey. In northern Florida, beekeepers keep beehives along the river swamps on platforms or floats during tupelo bloom to produce certified tupelo honey, which commands a high price on the market because of its flavor. Interesting Facts About Gums Black gum can be a slow grower but does best on moist, acid soils. Still, its persistence in cultivation can make for one of the most beautiful fall red leaf colors. Purchase a proven cultivar for the best results including Sheffield Park, Autumn Cascade and Bernheim Select. The water tupelo is also called cotton gum for its cottony new growth. It is just as hearty on wetland as baldcypress and ranked as one of the most flood-tolerant tree species in North America. This gum can become huge and sometimes exceed 100 feet in height. The tree can, like baldcypress, grow a grand basal trunk buttress. One species that I have not listed here is the Ogeechee gum that grows in parts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. It is of little commercial value and has a limited range. The Gum Tree List Black Tupelo GumWater Tupelo Leaves: alternate, simple, not toothed.Bark: deeply furrowed.Fruit: elliptical berry.