Read this excerpt from chapter 1 of  the scarlet letter. the founders of a new colony, whatever utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison. what part of the plot does this excerpt reveal? it is part of the exposition that describes the importance of the puritan prison. it is part of the exposition that describes the happiness of the puritan settlers. it is part of the rising action that reveals criminal activity. it is part of the rising action that reveals the puritan work ethic.