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The Scarlet Letter: The Price Of Shame

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Public shame has been seen as an indirect form of torture for many years, but is it really the worst consequence for a person? People who are publicly shamed carry around the scarlet letter of guilt on them because everyone knows them as "the person who did..." and not who they really are as a person. Everyone focuses on the negative side of the story; The guilt, pain, and suffering of being known as "the girl with the scarlet letter", or "the girl who had an affair with the president of the United States", or "the girl who wrote a controversial tweet". But what comes after it? What is the light at the end of the tunnel for these people? Is there a light? Is there ever an end? Using the sources of the novel, The Scarlet Letter, the speech, “The Price of Shame”, …show more content…

Anyone can search up a name and find out about another person, making information readily accessible. Social media has a huge effect on people like Monica Lewinsky. After her secret went public, news got around in hours, minutes, seconds, flying from one person's phone to another. Her story was on the cover page of websites like yahoo, CNN, and NBC news within hours of publication. Monica Lewinsky said “It was the first time the traditional news was usurped by the internet for a major news story, a click that reverberated around the world.” (Lewinsky 1). Within minutes, people did not think of her as Monica Lewinsky, but as “the woman who slept with the President”, all because of social media. The internet is a powerful and dangerous place. Justine Sacco found that out the hard way, just like Monica Lewinsky. Sacco described the internet as “a mob with 140-character pitchforks” (Sacco 1) who can shut down a person’s life in seconds. All of Sacco’s social media accounts were forced to shut down for her own safety because people were getting out of hand in a situation that really didn’t even concern

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Throughout this piece there are twenty-one words that contribute to an underlying belief of this article, such as “social media,” “web,” “internet,” “forum,” and “post.” These words show that one of the focuses of this article is the form in which rumors are spread on the internet, as they are the terms that appear quite often. In addition, the context in which social media is presented can be identified through further examination. The repetition of words such as “gossip,” “commenters,” and “comments” sixteen times shows that not only is the author focusing on the internet platform, but also what negative things are being presented on these sites. Finally, the way in which this story paints social media can be determined by the use of a negative word choice sixteen times.

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During the course of this past week and a half, I have been wearing the letter I chose to represent me. My results I received were very weak and almost unresponsive. But didn’t I wear it all day for a week? Yes, people tend to mind their own business while walking in-between classes.

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Shame in the Face of the Public Consequences of crimes are often unfit or unjust, but public humiliation serves as a fit consequence to any situation. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Lydia Woodyatt’s “The Power of Public Shaming, for Good and for Ill,” and Herbert Wray’s “The Two Faces of Shame,” the authors convey the effectiveness of public humiliation. Public shaming is effective by impacting a person’s character through guilt and embarrassment. Public shaming became a way of reshaping human character.

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Scarlet Letter Guilt Quotes

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(Hawthorne 57). Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter proves to be a “tale of human frailty and sorrow” by demonstrating that mistakes define human nature and portraying the idea that those mistakes also act as blessings (Hawthorne 2). He argues that sins are inevitable, natural forces that cannot be suppressed, but must be expressed in order to learn from them.

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In her article titled The Flip Side Of Internet Fame, Jessica Bennett focuses on how social media is a place that’s full of hysteria. Bennett says, “Online there are few checks and hardly any monitoring. Moreover, studies show that the anonymity of the net encourages people to say things they normally wouldn’t.” In an attempt to fit in, many take the side of the most common posted opinion even if extremely vulgar or offensive, which can send a large group of people in the same state of fury. These incidents on the internet can have a more hysteric effect, entire cities, states, and countries have felt endangered over a post on a website.

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Hawthorn’s Shameless Advertisement of Letting of Shame Before the age of tv ads featuring shallow message, people were brainwashed with shamelessly written romantics era books that teach deep, important lessons even modern readers can appreciate. A perfect example of this is Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, in which Hawthorne uses a shameless advertising style. Hawthorne’s advertisement focuses on Arthur Dimmesdale, a much adored but guilt haunted priest, and Hester Prynne, an aging woman who faces constant ignominy due to the letter A that she wears as punishment for adultery with Dimmesdale. Both are haunted by shame:

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The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and in a ted talk called “ The Price of Shame” , two women, named Hester Prynne and Monica Lewkisnky, both commit acts of adultery and undergo personal experiences of humiliation, labels and a change of character. When a person commits a wrongdoing typically they are soon gifted with a new label that they carry around with them everywhere they go. For some, a physical label may be carried around , for others, a more mental approach is taken. Unfortunately, for Hester

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