Body Paragraph Basic Formula

English 11, Honors: Critical Paper Body Paragraph Basic Formula

1. Topic Sentence 2. Transition into First Example 3. First Supporting Detail blended with analysis 4. More Original Analysis and Use of Literary Criticism 5. Transition into second example 6. Second supporting detail blended with analysis 7. More analysis and Secondary Source Support 8. Clincher Sentence (puts a bow on the paragraph)

In The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale’s inability to confess his sin causes him to deteriorate internally and externally, reflective of the greater human truth that suppressed guilt leaves the heart and soul in a state of vulnerability and decay. Dimmesdale is particularly susceptible to the vengeful nature of Roger Chillingworth, who prays upon this vulnerability . Specifically, as Chillingworth “groped along as stealthily…as a thief entering a chamber…to steal the very treasure which this man guards as the apple of his eye,” seeking in Dimmesdale that which is most valuable to him, his malignant intentions prey upon the weakened heart of the minister (118). Hawthorne develops Chillingworth as a dark and insidious figure to not only portray a face of evil, but also to further define what guilt and hidden sin can do to the vulnerability of a human heart. Dimmesdale is representative of the fact that “in Hawthorne’s world, as in the world itself, the dark side of individualism is often reveals itself as equally susceptible and fragile” (Thomas). Furthermore, Dimmesdale is not only vulnerable as a result of his guilt, but he also enters into great struggle with himself in a very melancholic internal state. Approaching the scaffold in the darkness of the night, as Dimmesdale “had been driven hither by the impulse of that remorse which dogged him…just when the other impulse had hurried him to the verge of disclosure,” his emotions battle within him and pull him away from public confession (134). Dimmesdale’s suppressed guilt begins to control him and cowardice’s “tremulous grip” keeps him from following his conscience to a confession. Dimemsdale’s conscience speaks more loudly than his voice, and “it is a conscience of not only a minister but a Puritan on a pedestal, incapable in the eyes of his congregation of any wrong doing” (Sullivan). Had Dimmesdale been able to overcome the cowardice that defines him, he could have released himself from the pang of guilt which ultimately weakens him toward a slow and agonizing death. Hawthorne’s insight into the sanctity and vulnerability of the human heart revels that the powerful force of hidden guilt is more deadly than even public confession of sin.