As Olivia had some questions with respect to completing her symbolism paragraphs ,we initially reviewed the novel's focus on differing interpretations of the letter "A" focusing on why to some in the community the letter "A" referred to Abel,the biblical figure. Before delving into the details of the final chapters, we discussed Olivia's opinion of the novel's ending. Olivia astutely noted that given Hester's strong character , the ending wherein many years after Dimmedale's death Hester returns to Boston and again wears the letter is unrealistic as is the dramatic scene where Dimmesdale confesses. We tied these observations to both the unrealistic genre of Romanticism as well as the novel's introduction ,"The Custom House" where Hawthorne describes the ineluctable draw Salem has on him notwithstanding that Salem is the scene of his family's shame due his forefather's participation in the Salem witch trials.For homework, I assigned finishing the vocabulary work on the novel. Also the test on earlier chapters that was to be made up last week, will instead be given tomorrow.