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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why has Hepzibah opened the shop?
(a) She wants to give Clifford a job.
(b) She needs the money.
(c) She wants something to fill the time.
(d) She hops that Holgrave would manage it.

2. How does Hepzibah feel towards the Judge at the beginning of the book?
(a) She loves him.
(b) She pities him.
(c) She hates him.
(d) She relies on him.

3. What does Hepzibah beg Phoebe to do when someone comes to the shop window?
(a) Hide in the garden.
(b) Avoid Holgrave.
(c) Ignore the new guest.
(d) Be nothing but cheerful.

4. Whom does Phoebe meet in the garden?
(a) Uncle Venner.
(b) Ned Higgins.
(c) Judge Pyncheon.
(d) Holgrave.

5. What does Phoebe hear coming from the empty parts of the House?
(a) The sounds of voices and music.
(b) The growling of an animal.
(c) The sound of mournful weeping.
(d) The scraping of moving furniture.

Short Answer Questions

1. What story does Hepzibah tell Phoebe?

2. How did Matthew Maule die?

3. What does the Judge repeatedly try to prevent Phoebe from doing?

4. What does Ned Higgins want to buy?

5. What kind of clothes is Clifford wearing when readers first meet him?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe the Puritan-era legal battle over the land the house sits on.

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

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

5. Describe Phoebe's first visit to the garden.

6. Describe Holgrave and Uncle Venner.

7. What tragedies soon afflicted the Pyncheon family?

8. Who is Phoebe and how does Hepzibah react to her arrival?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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