Question

Read this excerpt from chapter 1 of The Scarlet Letter. Certain it is, that, some fifteen or twenty years after the settlement of the town, the wooden jail was already marked with weather-stains and other indications of age, which gave a yet darker aspect to its beetle-browed and gloomy front. The rust on the ponderous iron-work of its oaken door looked more antique than any thing else in the new world. The author most likely include the words "darker aspect," "beetle-browed," "gloomy," and "ponderous" in order to
a. impart a melancholy mood
b. impart a mysteries mood
c. establish a formal, civilized setting
d.establish and oldfashioned setting

Answer 1

Answer:

a. impart a melancholy mood

Explanation:

According to the excerpt from "The Scarlet Letter," the author Nathaniel Hawthorne makes reference to the wooden jail of the town and mentions the words "darker aspect," "beetle-browed," "gloomy" and "ponderous" to describe it. In fact, the word melancholy refers to a feeling of sadness and desolation, which the phrases Hawthorne uses to portray the jail and its door illustrate perfectly, since they imply a sense of obscurity, displease, slowness and clumsiness to the scene.