1. Because Hester lives with the shame of the scarlet letter and is separated from others in the community as a result, she is able to think outside the rigid confines of the Puritan
establishment. Provide examples from the text that illustrate how Hester's thinking is
different from others in the Puritan community where she lives.

the present continuous is a verb tense which is mainly used to indicates that an action is in progress at the moment of speaking.  

it is formed using: person + verb to be (am/is/are) +verb + - ing form  

example: i am studying at this moment .

in addition, the present continuous is also used in order to express things that will or will not happen in the near future.

example: i am having dinner with some friends tonight.

the speaker sometimes   uses it   to express that an action is repeated and it causes irritation on the part of the speaker

example: my sister is constantly complaining about everything.

i think that the answer is substandard.

vey information about pap? physical description beliefs actions interactions