diff --git a/parser/ast.go b/parser/ast.go
index ea80ba6..76c5db3 100644
--- a/parser/ast.go
+++ b/parser/ast.go
@@ -14,39 +14,88 @@ const (
 	Object
 )
 
-// Node is an element in the parse tree.
+// Node is an element in the abstract syntax  tree.
 type Node interface {
+	node()
 	String() string
-	Type() NodeType
 	Pos() scanner.Pos
-	End() scanner.Pos
 }
 
+func (IdentStatement) node()  {}
+func (BlockStatement) node()  {}
+func (AssignStatement) node() {}
+func (ListStatement) node()   {}
+func (ObjectStatement) node() {}
+
 // IdentStatement represents an identifier.
 type IdentStatement struct {
-	Token scanner.Token
-	Pos   scanner.Pos // position of the literal
-	Value string
+	pos   scanner.Pos // position of the literal
+	token scanner.Token
+	value string
+}
+
+func (i IdentStatement) String() string {
+	return i.value
+}
+
+func (i IdentStatement) Pos() scanner.Pos {
+	return i.pos
 }
 
 type BlockStatement struct {
-	Lbrace scanner.Pos // position of "{"
-	Rbrace scanner.Pos // position of "}"
-	List   []Node      // the nodes in lexical order
+	lbrace scanner.Pos // position of "{"
+	rbrace scanner.Pos // position of "}"
+	list   []Node      // the nodes in lexical order
+}
+
+func (b BlockStatement) String() string {
+	s := "{\n"
+	for _, n := range b.list {
+		s += n.String() + "\n"
+	}
+
+	s += "}"
+	return s
+}
+
+func (b BlockStatement) Pos() scanner.Pos {
+	return b.lbrace
 }
 
 // AssignStatement represents an assignment
 type AssignStatement struct {
-	Lhs    Node        // left hand side of the assignment
-	Rhs    Node        // right hand side of the assignment
-	Assign scanner.Pos // position of "="
+	lhs    Node        // left hand side of the assignment
+	rhs    Node        // right hand side of the assignment
+	assign scanner.Pos // position of "="
+}
+
+func (a AssignStatement) String() string {
+	return a.lhs.String() + " = " + a.rhs.String()
+}
+
+func (a AssignStatement) Pos() scanner.Pos {
+	return a.lhs.Pos()
 }
 
 // ListStatement represents a list
 type ListStatement struct {
-	Lbrack scanner.Pos // position of "["
-	Rbrack scanner.Pos // position of "]"
-	List   []Node      // the elements in lexical order
+	lbrack scanner.Pos // position of "["
+	rbrack scanner.Pos // position of "]"
+	list   []Node      // the elements in lexical order
+}
+
+func (l ListStatement) String() string {
+	s := "[\n"
+	for _, n := range l.list {
+		s += n.String() + ",\n"
+	}
+
+	s += "]"
+	return s
+}
+
+func (l ListStatement) Pos() scanner.Pos {
+	return l.lbrack
 }
 
 // ObjectStatment represents an object
@@ -54,3 +103,21 @@ type ObjectStatement struct {
 	Idents []Node // the idents in elements in lexical order
 	BlockStatement
 }
+
+func (o ObjectStatement) String() string {
+	s := ""
+
+	for i, n := range o.Idents {
+		s += n.String()
+		if i != len(o.Idents) {
+			s += " "
+		}
+	}
+
+	s += o.BlockStatement.String()
+	return s
+}
+
+func (o ObjectStatement) Pos() scanner.Pos {
+	return o.Idents[0].Pos()
+}
diff --git a/parser/parser.go b/parser/parser.go
index 46a1729..a3513f6 100644
--- a/parser/parser.go
+++ b/parser/parser.go
@@ -3,14 +3,46 @@ package parser
 import "github.com/fatih/hcl/scanner"
 
 type Parser struct {
-	sc *scanner.Scanner
+	sc  *scanner.Scanner
+	buf struct {
+		tok scanner.Token // last read token
+		n   int           // buffer size (max = 1)
+	}
 }
 
 func NewParser(src []byte) *Parser {
 	return &Parser{
-		sc: scanner.NewScanner(src),
+		sc: scanner.New(src),
 	}
 }
 
-func (p *Parser) Parse() {
+func (p *Parser) Parse() Node {
+	tok := p.scan()
+
+	switch tok.Type() {
+	case scanner.IDENT:
+		// p.parseStatement()
+	case scanner.EOF:
+	}
+
+	return nil
 }
+
+// scan returns the next token from the underlying scanner.
+// If a token has been unscanned then read that instead.
+func (p *Parser) scan() scanner.Token {
+	// If we have a token on the buffer, then return it.
+	if p.buf.n != 0 {
+		p.buf.n = 0
+		return p.buf.tok
+	}
+
+	// Otherwise read the next token from the scanner and Save it to the buffer
+	// in case we unscan later.
+	p.buf.tok = p.sc.Scan()
+
+	return p.buf.tok
+}
+
+// unscan pushes the previously read token back onto the buffer.
+func (p *Parser) unread() { p.buf.n = 1 }
diff --git a/scanner/scanner.go b/scanner/scanner.go
index ebf91db..e127240 100644
--- a/scanner/scanner.go
+++ b/scanner/scanner.go
@@ -42,15 +42,9 @@ type Scanner struct {
 	tokPos Pos
 }
 
-// NewScannerstring creates and initializes a new instance of Scanner using
-// string src as its source content.
-func NewScannerString(src string) *Scanner {
-	return NewScanner([]byte(src))
-}
-
-// NewScanner creates and initializes a new instance of Scanner using src as
+// New creates and initializes a new instance of Scanner using src as
 // its source content.
-func NewScanner(src []byte) *Scanner {
+func New(src []byte) *Scanner {
 	// even though we accept a src, we read from a io.Reader compatible type
 	// (*bytes.Buffer). So in the future we might easily change it to streaming
 	// read.
diff --git a/scanner/scanner_test.go b/scanner/scanner_test.go
index 47b91e1..5918ef2 100644
--- a/scanner/scanner_test.go
+++ b/scanner/scanner_test.go
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ func TestPosition(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	s := NewScanner(buf.Bytes())
+	s := New(buf.Bytes())
 
 	pos := Pos{"", 4, 1, 5}
 	s.Scan()
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ func TestRealExample(t *testing.T) {
 		{EOF, ``},
 	}
 
-	s := NewScanner([]byte(complexHCL))
+	s := New([]byte(complexHCL))
 	for _, l := range literals {
 		tok := s.Scan()
 		if l.token != tok.Type() {
@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@ func TestError(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func testError(t *testing.T, src, pos, msg string, tok TokenType) {
-	s := NewScanner([]byte(src))
+	s := New([]byte(src))
 
 	errorCalled := false
 	s.Error = func(p Pos, m string) {
@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@ func testTokenList(t *testing.T, tokenList []tokenPair) {
 		fmt.Fprintf(buf, "%s\n", ident.text)
 	}
 
-	s := NewScanner(buf.Bytes())
+	s := New(buf.Bytes())
 	for _, ident := range tokenList {
 		tok := s.Scan()
 		if tok.Type() != ident.tok {