Finish the following for homework

from A Flood of Sunshine

Her intellect and heart had their home, as it were, in desert places, where she roamed as freely as the wild Indian in his woods. For years past she had looked from this estranged point of view at human institutions, and whatever priests or legislators had established; criticizing all with hardly more reverence than the Indian would feel for the clerical band, the judicial robe, the pillory, the gallows, the fireside, or the church. The tendency of her fate and fortunes had been to set her free. The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers,--stern and wild ones,--and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.

Questions

1. Hawthorne uses lists a couple of times in this passage. What is the impact and effect of this use on the passage as a whole?
2. Hawthorne also uses comparisons in the form of both similes and metaphors. How do those devices contribute to or enhance his meaning?

Apply

Write a passage about one of the characters in The Scarlet Letter using either comparisons or lists (or both!) to help reveal a trait of that character that is important to the story.

And also:

Trace Dimmesdale's path through "the maze". Explain what Hawthorne is trying to communicate via this method. (Think small and big.)