"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."1 Therefore, it makes sense that if mortals cannot bear the darkness, they [should not] not go there. ... The remedy is very simple: Avoid the darkness and seek the light. ... He will immediately turn to the darkness. ... Children will always be afraid of the dark and men will always shudder at what they do not understand, yet everyone will continue to seek it.5 Perhaps it is because society, particularly American society because of its history, believes the final h...

• Word Count: 3126
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The Scarlet Letter is a book revealing lives of sin, social identity, and humanity. The story displays some of the darkest elements of the human soul: guilt, revenge, and evil. With its complex, emotional plot and its rich symbolism, this masterpiece has become a highly prized classic in American li...

• Word Count: 3653
• Approx Pages: 15
• Grade Level: High School

This act leads to her death at the end of the story. ... Yet, her death is very significant for it marks the end of Rappaccini's experiment and the loss of his only companion. ... One notices here the sharp contrast between the darkness associated with the room and "the bright sunshine" of the garden. ... Yet, the romantic writer's rejection of this idea appears when he relates the room (culture) to darkness and unhappiness. ...

• Word Count: 9442
• Approx Pages: 38
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Helpless, capable of doing no work, passive and parasitic, Priscilla is an envoy of death and disease, a carrier of the secret corruption of American life- (151). ... "Even more suggestive evidence of Coverdale's possible liaison at some point with a less than innocent Priscilla is intimated in the highly connotative scene where she visits his sick chamber at Blithedale- (268) The Lefcowitz's offer much evidence, very little of it convincing, that Priscilla has a dark sexual background. ... I would like to take a much more pedestrian look at Priscilla's character, not trying ...

• Word Count: 4739
• Approx Pages: 19
• Has Bibliography

The prison is described as a, "wooden jail...already marked with weather-stains and other indications of age which gave a yet darker aspect to its beetle-browed and gloomy front." ... One woman, the ugliest of the group, goes so far as to advocate death for Hester. ...

• Word Count: 5572
• Approx Pages: 22
• Grade Level: High School