Creative English Teacher — Five Reasons To Teach Series

The Scarlet Letter is unquestioningly a pillar of American Literature (some argue the greatest American novel), but what does it have to offer young adult readers? Apart from peeling back layer after layer of symbolism, is there worth in making this novel required reading?                    There are very few books that I remember enjoying from my own high-school experience--no fault of my teachers but my own--and The Scarlet Letter  was one of them. Nothing about the premise of the novel drew me to the story: Puritans and unwed mothers are not the primarily interests of...