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The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

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The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

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The Scarlet Letter is a work of historical fiction by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850. Set in Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an affair and then struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity.

The Scarlet Letter is a mirror to the society which existed in the 17th century Puritan America, which has been considered as a reflection of implementation of Puritan laws. That society did not give equality to men and women even though women were strong, brave, industrious, kindhearted, and with a lofty devoting spirit, their whole life was very tragic in the end. It deeply reveals not only the Puritan’s bitterness and the women’s hardship, but also the strength of the Puritan consciousness and the lowness of the women’s status.

In the present day, it might lead us to question how does the meaning and impact of a text change over time since a lot of the insights would not make sense in the present day.

At the same time, students will be able to draw parallels (at least in India) where uptight beliefs are forced and violence, killings (honor killings), lynching, tonsuring, being paraded with signs of shame (garland of slippers, face colored black, etc) are inflicted upon if one questions or refuses to follow 'norms'.

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Persepolis is an autobiographical series of Graphic Novels by Marjane Satrapi that depicts her childhood up to her early adult years in Iran and Austria during and after the Islamic Revolution. The text was originally published in French and translated to many other languages including English.

Persepolis takes place around the same time when movements were rising in the late 1970s to early 1980s in the Middle East. The protagonist is the author herself Marjane Satrapi, who tells about her experience in the Islamic Revolution time period. She saw the Shah of Iran being overthrown and the Iranian monarchy came to an end. So, then a religious supreme leader with extreme views took over and ruled Iran. The country’s government then became a dictatorship due to the monarchy being overthrown. She had a terrible life experience growing up in Iran as she observed violence including her own peers being killed.

In the present day scenario as well, students will be able to draw parallels of similar instances of extremism (Taliban taking over Afghanistan) and their forms of oppression (women being asked to leave jobs, etc). Similar events can be looked at even with a change of time and space, giving much food for thought to both Global Issues as well as the Individual Oral.

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If I Were a Man by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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If I Were a Man by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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In the short story If I Were a Man by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a married woman named Mollie Mathewson wishes "heart and soul" that she was a man, and she is suddenly transported into the body and mind of her husband Gerald.

Gilman successfully brings this story to life by taking a third-person limited omniscient point of view, which allows us to see inside her innermost thoughts. Mollie Mathewson longs to be a man, because at this time men have all the power and pride women don’t. She is envious of all the things men can have. Mollie and other women in their society did not have to work and all they had to do was keep care of the house while their husbands did the work and brought home the money. The prescription of the society then: Men get to make the money while women stay home and take care of things around the house.

The story provides an insight not only in the pre-defined gender roles in the American culture at the time but also into the minds of women and their longing for independence. 'Earning' and the idea of 'pockets' pushes us to think critically about the exploration of the same lines in a different context and to look at how or how not the situation may or may not have changed in the students' context.

Students could also look into the waves of feminism and how gender roles may have been redefined.

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Heinz Tomato Ketchup Advertisement (1930's)

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Heinz Tomato Ketchup Advertisement (1930's)

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Advertisements are one of the text types for Paper 1 but can also give us an insight into how advertisements at a particular time targeted specific audiences and reinforced the culture, attitudes, and practices during the time.

This text is pitched towards housewives in the USA in the 1930's and a linguistic analysis and the conventions of the text type might offend many readers in the contemporary time.

A deeper analysis will reveal the expected gender roles ('pleasing the husband' in this case) prevalent during the time thereby giving us an insight into the culture. On the contrary, the same product being advertised in the present day (or even 2000's) have completely done away with addressing gender roles.

This is a classic example of how texts would be approached from different times and how a change of time and contexts, in this case, will require a change of advertisement techniques.

*Another supporting text of the same product from a different time period below.

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Heinz Tomato Ketchup Advertisement (2000's)

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Heinz Tomato Ketchup Advertisement (2000's)

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A supporting text to the previous advertisement of the same product, which in the 2000's has done away with the gender specific approach, keeping up with the change in context, space and time and therefore employing different, non-offensive approaches.