However, Aylmer's attempt to destroy the birthmark and Georgiana's human nature fails. ... This opportunity, however, leads to Georgiana's destruction and death because Aylmer fails to accept either Georgiana's human nature or his own human nature. ... Despite the views of others, humans' flawed nature must be accepted as a significant part of humanity. ... " Hawthorne begins by alluding to the belief in total depravity in this short story when Goodman Brown sees Goody Cloyse in the forest and is reminded of the Puritan catechism. ... The forest provides Goodman B...

• Word Count: 1568
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Likewise, in these two short stories, a few characters also come about this misfortune, whether by choice or by obligation. Each story proves a unique point about the relationship between knowledge and the human character as well as the concept of isolation; yet, there are also many parallels in the existence thereof. ... Throughout the short story, the reader becomes familiar with this curse; however, the reader also discovers, as does Beatrice, that all humans possess their own form of this curse known as poison. As Beatrice begins to fade, she inquires of Giovanni, "was there not, from...

• Word Count: 673
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Embarrassed by his failure, Hawthorne continued to write many short stories, several of which were published in newspapers but always anonymously. Finally, in 1837, Hawthorne decided to use his own name and published Twice-Told Tales, a collection of his short stories, many of which had previously been published anonymously. ... In 1838, Hawthorne met Sophia Peabody, a young woman who shared his shy and quiet nature. ... Born in 1804, Hawthorne lived right through the peak of Romanticism, a literary period that derived from the European enlightenment and focused on themes such as nature, the s...

• Word Count: 1129
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Nathaniel Hawthorne, an early-American writer plagued by the sins of his ancestors, channeled the guilt and shame he felt to write novels and short stories that would earn himself a spot among the most-read and most famous American writers of all time. ... Hawthorne was a firm believer in human imperfection, falls from grace, and generational curses. Although understanding Hawthorne's works can be challenging, by closely examining Hawthorne's biography, along with the subjects and themes of his writings, the reader will better understand how Hawthorne's personal demons inspired ...

• Word Count: 646
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Poe, well known today for his poetry and short stories, such as "The Pit and the Pendulum", is regarded by many to be the founder of the modern detective story. He often wrote horror stories and psychological thrillers, while at the same time exploring the human mind and individual emotions. ... "Transcendentalists accepted the neo-platonic conception of nature as a living mystery, full of signs - nature is symbolic.... The human soul was part of the oversoul, essentially the spirit of the cosmos, and upon death, would return to the oversoul. ... In his essay "Nature"...

• Word Count: 1786
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

For romantics, the imagination, spontaneity, individual feelings, and nature were of greater value than reason, logic, planning, and cultivation. ... The transcendentalists, writers of this period, optimistically believed in human perfectibility. ... Transcendentalism influenced writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, who is responsible for the writing of NATURE and SELF-RELIANCE. ... Realistic novelists often relied on the emerging sciences of human and animal behavior-biology, psychology, and sociology-as well as on their own insights and observations. The most well-known writer of this tim...

• Word Count: 774
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In fact, there were a number of stories circulating which focused upon sexually transgressive clergymen, and this may have been an influence on Hawthorne's portrayal of Arthur Dimmesdale. ... Although romanticism was not a clearly conceived system, it does tend to present certain characteristics: there is often a tendency toward primitivism, an interest in nature and the natural world, a pressuring of the past, and a foregrounding of the concerns of individualism. ... The political influences on American romanticism include 18th century notions about human perfectability, the ideals of ...

• Word Count: 917
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate