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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who passes by the shop but does not enter at the beginning of the novel?

2. What did Colonel Pyncheon do during Maule’s execution?

3. What does Phoebe discover Hepzibah doing one morning?

4. What was Matthew Maule accused of?

5. Hepzibah is whose sister?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Phoebe's first encounter with the Judge.

2. What does the Judge try to do?

3. Describe some of the "eerie" qualities of the House.

4. Describe how Phoebe comes to stay at the House.

5. Who is Hepzibah Pyncheon and why does she run a shop out of the house?

6. What do Hepzibah's feelings towards the Judge seem to be?

7. After the Colonel's death, what happened to the Pyncheon family?

8. Explain who Clifford is and describe his homecoming.

9. How would you describe the House of Seven Gables?

10. Who built the House of the Seven Gables? Why is this ironic?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay exploring Hepzibah and Phoebe and their roles as women in their society. How do the expectations and customs of nineteenth century new England influence their options and choices? How do these factors influence the events of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that explores the symbolic significance of specific objects in the novel. Include discussion of the portrait, the well and garden, the posies, the harpsichord, and the daguerreotypes. What do they symbolize and how do they support the novel’s themes?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that explains how Hawthorne uses his description of the House itself to develop the theme of the past influencing the present.

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