The Scarlet Letter Literary Devices Flashcard Example #10907

“She never created a friend, but seemed always to be sowing broadcast the dragon’s teeth, whence sprung a harvest of armed enemies, against whom she rushed to battle.”

“fragrance and fragile beauty”

“He made a step nigher, and discovered the scarlet letter.”

“there appeared… like a black shadow emerging into sunshine”

“Could it be true?”

“with the hot mid-day sun burning down upon her face, light up it’s shame; with the scarlet token of infamy on her breast, with the sin-born baby in her arms, with the whole people, drawn forth, as if to a festival”

“Hester Prynne had become as still as death…”

“I know not Lethe nor Nepenthe…”

“Her skill was called in aid to embroider the white veil which was to cover the pure blushes of a bride”

“With a faint, chill crimson in her cheeks”

“… that little creature, whole innocent life had spring, by the indestructible decree of providence a lovely and immoral flower”

“It was the scarlet letter in another form; the scarlet letter endowed with life!”

“She screamed and shouted, too, with a terrific volume of sound, which, doubtless, cause the hearts of fugitives to quake within them”

“But the child, unaccustomed to the touch of familiarity of any but her mother, escaped through the open window, and stood on the upper step looking like a wild tropical bird, of rich plumage, ready to take flight into the upper air.”

“Roger Chillingworth- the man of skill, the kind and friendly physician- strove to go deep into his patient’s bosom, delving among his principles, prying into his recollections, and probing everything with a cautious touch, like a treasure seeker in a dark cavern.”

“He was heard to speak of Sir Kenelm Digby, and other famous men….”

“I could be well content that my labors, and my sorrows, and my sins, and my pains, should shortly end with me…”

“How can it be otherwise? Why should a wretched man, guilty, we will say, of murder, prefer to keep the dead corpse buried in his own heart, rather than fling it forth at once, and let the universe take care of it”

“Pearl clapped her hands in the most extravagant ecstasy”

“Come away, mother! Come away, or yonder old Black Man will catch you!… Come away, mother, or he will catch you”

“the stream still kept up a murmuring babble, with not a whit more cheerfulness of tone than for ages heretofore.”

“A writhing horror twisted itself across his features…”