ONLINE YOUTH LITERARY MAGAZINE

Youth literary magazine

The Elysian Muse

Youth literary magazine

The Elysian Muse

Youth literary magazine

The Elysian Muse

Photography by Silja Pietilä, 18, Finland

Photography by Safia Henniche, 16, Boston

Photography by Safia Henniche, 16, Boston

Dear Readers and Contributors,

 

I would like to take the opportunity to personally thank you all for the continuous love and support, especially through the pandemic. In just under 6 months, we’ve come so far; the magazine has been featured on Publish YOUth Writing and Poets & Writers, and the editorial team reached a whooping milestone of 100+ Advice Articles written! As we continue grow our global outreach, we’ve published over 280 creators from 25 U.S. States, 25 countries, and 6 continents across the world! 

 

It’s been a pleasure growing this community over the past three years, so I know I speak for the entire editorial board when I say we hold this magazine and our contributors close to our hearts. It takes a tremendous amount of research and effort to manage the magazine, which is why we're so thankful for all of your support. We encourage you to share our publications and Advice Articles to help our other young creators who may be interested in pursuing their craft.

 

Cheers,

Lori Khadse

Founder, Nonfiction Editor in Chief

The Elysian Muse Youth Literary Magazine

Dear Readers and Contributors,

 

I would like to take the opportunity to personally thank you all for the continuous love and support, especially through the pandemic. In just under 6 months, we’ve come so far; the magazine has been featured on Publish YOUth Writing and Poets & Writers, and the editorial team reached a whooping milestone of 100+ Advice Articles written! As we continue grow our global outreach, we’ve published over 280 creators from 25 U.S. States, 25 countries, and 6 continents across the world! 

 

It’s been a pleasure growing this community over the past three years, so I know I speak for the entire editorial board when I say we hold this magazine and our contributors close to our hearts. It takes a tremendous amount of research and effort to manage the magazine, which is why we're so thankful for all of your support. We encourage you to share our publications and Advice Articles to help our other young creators who may be interested in pursuing their craft.

 

Cheers,

Lori Khadse

Founder, Nonfiction Editor in Chief

The Elysian Muse Youth Literary Magazine

Photography by Safia Henniche, 16, Boston

Editors' Choice Works

 

The Scarlet Letter: Puritan Society

Written by Anon

 

“Measured by the prisoner’s experience, however, it might be reckoned a journey of some length; for, haughty as her demeanor was, she perchance underwent an agony from every footstep of those that thronged to see her, as if her heart had been flung into the street for them all to spurn and trample upon” (Hawthorne 46).

During Hester Prynne’s humiliating leave from the prison house in Chapter two of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses a simile to compare Hester’s present pain to the hypothetical pain of her entire society physically running over her heart. The Puritan society throngs at the marketplace to witness Hester’s shame; she is being punished for intercourse out of wedlock. The verb form of the word “throng” refers to a crowd jamming and pushing, usually tumultuously and violently, to fill an area. The action of the crowd thronging to see her for the purpose of ridiculing her constricts and overwhelms Hester, antagonizing and creating a claustrophobic effect for the reader. Hawthorne goes on describing the simile, using the words “flung”, “spurn”, and “trampled” to describe the actions hypothetically done on Hester’s heart. To fling means to throw forcefully, to spurn means to vehemently reject something, and to trample means to tread on and crush. The words invoke a connotation of violence and bitterness. The severity of the injuries sustained on Hester’s heart is forcefully communicated to the reader, concocting emotions of distress and despair. The vehemence of Hester’s society is illustrated completely using the aforementioned words. The severity of both their definitions and their connotations eventually force the reader to feel beyond sympathy for Hester, but rather, empathy.