Brooke Peterman

AP Lang, Pd. 2
Cooper
13 December 2018

Dialectical Journal 2

First Entry
1. “Thus conversing, they entered sufficiently deep into the wood to secure themselves from the
observation of any casual passenger along the forest track. Here they sat down on a luxuriant
heap of moss; which at some epoch of the preceding century, had been a gigantic pine, with its
roots and trunk in the darksome shade, and its head aloft in the upper atmosphere It was a little
dell where they had seated themselves, with a leaf–strewn bank rising gently on either side, and
a brook flowing through the midst, over a bed of fallen and drowned leaves. The trees
impending over it had flung down great branches from time to time, which choked up the
current, and compelled it to form eddies and black depths at some points; while, in its swifter
and livelier passages there appeared a channel–way of pebbles, and brown, sparkling sand.
Letting the eyes follow along the course of the stream, they could catch the reflected light from
its water, at some short distance within the forest, but soon lost all traces of it amid the
bewilderment of tree–trunks and underbush, and here and there a huge rock covered over with
gray lichens. All these giant trees and boulders of granite seemed intent on making a mystery of
the course of this small brook; fearing, perhaps, that, with its never–ceasing loquacity, it should
whisper tales out of the heart of the old forest whence it flowed, or mirror its revelations on the
smooth surface of a pool. ​Continually, indeed, as it stole onward, the streamlet kept up a
babble, kind, quiet, soothing, but melancholy, like the voice of a young child that was spending
its infancy without playfulness, and knew not how to be merry among sad acquaintance and
events of sombre hue.

“Oh, brook! Oh, foolish and tiresome little brook!” cried Pearl, after listening awhile to its talk,
“Why art thou so sad? Pluck up a spirit, and do not be all the time sighing and murmuring!”

But the brook, in the course of its little lifetime among the forest trees, had gone through so
solemn an experience that it could not help talking about it, and seemed to have nothing else to
say. ​Pearl resembled the brook, inasmuch as the current of her life gushed from a well–spring
as mysterious, and had flowed through scenes shadowed as heavily with gloom. But, unlike the
little stream, she danced and sparkled, and prattled airily along her course.”​ Chapter 16

2. In my analysis I will be focusing on these rhetorical strategies: analogy, personification, and

antithesis

3. Through the use of analogy, Hawthorne compares Pearl, Hester’s playful and mischievous
daughter, to the moans of the melancholy brook in the forest. This comparison is intensified by
the personifying comments he makes about the brook’s qualities, such as how it “whisper[s]
tales” of the forest and the way it “could not help talking about” its solemn experience. This
analogy persuades the reader to look closer into Pearl’s character and acknowledge the
calamity that she grew up with. With a mother who was a symbol of sin in her community, and
without a father figure in her life, Pearl evokes sympathy from the reader through this new,
unprecedented perspective and contrasts the prior demonic way Pearl was presented.

4. In this passage, a strong characterization of Pearl emerges that presents the adversity she
was faced with and had to overcome as a child. In Hawthorne's description of the similarities
between the brook and Pearl, he also introduces antithesis between how the two dealt with their
afflictions. While the brook continues to murmur an anguished story, Pearl never gave in to her
detrimental situation. Instead, she played and wielded her imagination as a kid should. This
antithesis is highlighted by how Pearl “danced and sparkled” and the brook “kept up a babble…
like the voice of a young child that was spending its infancy without playfulness.” The contrast
creates a reference to how Pearl’s isolated childhood should have been and the diction used in
these quotes creates a similar contrast between playful and sombre tones.
Second Entry

1.“​More misery, Hester!—Only the more misery!​” answered the clergyman with a bitter smile.
“As concerns the good which I may appear to do, I have no faith in it. It must needs be a
delusion. What can a ruined soul like mine effect towards the redemption of other souls?—Or a
polluted soul towards their purification? And as for the people’s reverence, would that it were
turned to scorn and hatred! ​Canst thou deem it, Hester, a consolation that I must stand up in my
pulpit, and meet so many eyes turned upward to my face, as if the light of heaven were beaming
from it!—Must see my flock hungry for the truth, and listening to my words as if a tongue of
Pentecost were speaking!—And then look inward, and discern the black reality of what they
idolize?​ I have laughed, in bitterness and agony of heart,​ at the contrast between what I seem
and what I am! And Satan laughs at it​!” Chapter 17

2. In my analysis I will be focusing on these rhetorical strategies: syntax, repetition, simile, and
allusion.

3. The passage begins with a clear example of Hawthorne's use of both syntax and repetition
for effect. By repeating “more misery” and separating the sentences so harshly, Hawthorne
allows the reader to realize how deep Mr. Dimmesdale's shame goes and how strongly it has
been affecting him. Hawthorne goes on to use a simile comparing Mr. Dimmesdale to both the
light from heaven and the tongue of Pentecost, a christian holiday. That comparison further
reveals his shame because when he looks upon himself he sees a sinner, the exact opposite of
what these allusions to christian purity entail. The parallel structure used in the last line also
contributes to this contrast when Hawthorne says “what I seem and what I am,” emphasizing the
impact of the words “seem” and “am” to convince the reader of Dimmesdale's self appointed
guilt and suffering and the extent to which his role in society differs compared to how he views
himself.

4. Hawthorne's use of rhetoric in this section reveals a lot about the thematic purpose of this
book and how it relates strongly to guilt and sin. Dimmesdale’s obvious suffering is a symbol of
the most piercing type of sin, that which you confine to your own heart and mind. Of course, his
reasons for concealing his sin were noble in that he did not want the community’s perception of
him as their pure, saintly leader to be damaged and effect their own consciousness. Building
upon this, through his use of these rhetorical devices, Hawthorne conveys the ideas that
sinfulness depends strongly upon perspective and that there is no justified right or wrong in the
world. There is only what your society deems to be just, and the limited knowledge one knows
of other people.