Frequently cited as Nathanial Hawthorne’s masterwork, The Scarlet Letter has been studied and studied (and studied some more) ever since its initial publishing run some 130-odd years ago. It’s a period piece written in a distant era, meaning it was the work of an accomplished author in a generation far removed from our own who looked back at a generation far removed from his own and decided it was worth writing about. It’s kind of amazing, really, that we’re all still reading along all these years after Hawthorne examined something just as far removed from his own life. There’s reason for it, though: the content of The Scarlet Letter is timeless. Packed with universal themes of sin and legalism, it’s a perennially popular pick for teachers, and today we’re going to guide you on the path of writing an essay on it!

Before you can set out in your mission, you’ll want to read the book cover-to-cover at a casual pace. Set aside plenty of time before your deadline to relax and soak it all in. At 272 pages, this may sound like a big task, but you might be surprised just how quickly those pages will fly by once you get into it. Many bestsellers are in fact substantially longer, too, so you’ve rather lucked out with something so relatively lean! Whether you choose to tackle it all in one day or spread it out over the course of a week or more, just try to have fun with it!

Take some time after reading to pause and consider the themes in the story. How did the main characters resonate with you? Was Hester Prynne’s struggle and resolution suitable? Were her romantic exploits thrilling? Do you feel like she was a believable character? Were her mistakes understandable or do you lack sympathy for her? How did the era she was born into influence her life?

There are, indeed, so many questions which might be racing through your mind immediately after reading, and now’s the time to structure them into an outline. Build a barebones version of what you’ll soon be writing about, organizing the themes you’ve identified into what will eventually become full-bodied paragraphs. Incorporate any notes you took during reading and try this site for convenient plot summaries and more. Everything you can think of including ought to get worked into your outline so that you’ve got plenty to utilize going forward.

Now’s the time, brave student! There’s no more putting it off! It’s essay-writing time! Consult your outline as if it were a manual and concoct a strong first draft which fully explores the concepts and character arcs found in the book. Above all, you’ll want to ensure there’s statement involved in your writing, whether it’s an expression of satisfaction with the overall content or a negative interpretation of Hester’s behavior or whatever the case may be. If you haven’t been assigned any specific analysis, you’re free to come up with anything you wish, but keep it topical and stick with something you know you can write about extensively.