Classic Book Project

Title: The Scarlet Letter

Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Genre: Classic Romance

Comments:

For this years classic book project, I chose to read The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. When I encouraged my mom to read this book with me and she agreed on it, I was more than excited. However, when I found out that she already read it a long time ago, I was overjoyed because we wouldn't have to take turns- I could just read it in a week and then start doing the project.   I chose this book because all of my friends seemed to have read it, and everybody says that it's a wonderful romance story. I'm really curious to find out why it's so great and popular. When I finish The Scarlet Letter, I will be able to chalk talk about it as well.
This week, I've read chapter one. As I read this chapter, I could hardly understand what was going on. The narrator's voice and vocabulary words were so deep and touching that I had to read it again, until I realized what he is trying to say. The first chapter includes little in the way of action. A crowd of dreary-looking people has gathered outside the door of a prison in Bostin in the 17th century. The narrator deeply describes how the prison is constructed. He says that it is made for extremely dangerous criminals, and he describes that the building's heavy oak door is covered with iron spikes. Next to the prison building, the author describes that there is a growing rosebush that provides a "sweet moral blosson," which I thought about for a second. The narrator affirms that this rosebush symbolizes nature's kindness to the poor. That's how this chapter ended.
After I read this chapter, I felt relieved and satisfied because now I know what the first chapter is about, and I'm ready to read the next chapter!