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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. Where do the chickens spend much of their time?

2. What does Phoebe tell Holgrave after he reads her his story?

3. How does Phoebe’s presence influence Clifford?

4. What threat does the Judge make?

5. How does Maule defy tradition when he comes to the House?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Phoebe changing, and why?

2. Maule agreed to help Gervais under two conditions. What were they?

3. What did Maule do to Alice?

4. How does the author build suspense as Hepzibah waits while the Judge meets with Clifford?

5. In Holgrave's narrative, what was Gervais Pyncheon trying the find?

6. What does Hepzibah find in the parlor?

7. How is Clifford's homecoming both bitter and sweet?

8. Describe Matthew Maule's demeanor when he came to the house.

9. What does Holgrave experiment with?

10. How was young Matthew Maule already connected to the story of the House?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Colonel Pyncheon and the older Matthew Maule lived on different socioeconomic classes, and this class difference helped determine the fates of both families. Write an essay explaining the importance of class differences in the novel through the Pyncheon and Maule ancestors as well as the novel’s contemporary characters.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay discussing the importance of the old portrait of Colonel Pyncheon. How does the presence of the portrait influence the events and the atmosphere of the House? Why is its placement important? What does the portrait symbolize?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that explores the narrator as a character in the novel. Is the narrator Hawthorne himself or a separate character telling us the story? How does Hawthorne use the narrator to communicate his own attitudes towards the issues and characters in the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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