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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Chillingworth has a degree from a university in which country?
(a) Italy.
(b) Germany.
(c) France.
(d) Holland.

2. The title of Chapter 9 ("The Leech") refers to which character?
(a) Dimmesdale.
(b) Chilingworth.
(c) Pearl.
(d) Hester.

3. What is the shape of the hats worn in the "throng"?
(a) Cone.
(b) Steeple.
(c) Pillbox.
(d) Derby.

4. Who, in Chapter 5, is referred to as "the figure, the body, the reality of sin?"
(a) Pearl.
(b) Dimmesdale.
(c) Hester.
(d) Hibbins.

5. How does Hawthorne metaphorically refer to the United States government in "The Custom House"?
(a) Washington.
(b) The golden eagle.
(c) Big brother.
(d) Uncle Sam.

6. How does Hester dress her daughter?
(a) In "rustic weeds."
(b) In "infinite variety."
(c) In the "richest tissue."
(d) In "paler loveliness."

7. Which character says, ironically, "why should a wretched man, guilty, we will say, of murder, prefer to keep the dead corpse buried in his own heart, rather than fling it forth at once"?
(a) Wilson.
(b) Hester.
(c) Chillingworth.
(d) Dimmesdale.

8. By what moniker does Hawthorne name the Custom-House building itself?
(a) Regal Apartment.
(b) Big House.
(c) Old Manse.
(d) Venerated Palace.

9. At the governor's house when the men are debating Hester's custody, what does one of them say Pearl should have been named?
(a) Ruby, Scarlet or Roseanna.
(b) Pinkie, Cora or Rosa.
(c) Ruby, Coral or Red Rose.
(d) Scarlet, Rose or Diamond.

10. What does Hawthorne find in a "mysterious package" in the Custom-House?
(a) A painting of Hester and Pearl.
(b) The scarlet letter.
(c) Hester's diary.
(d) Dimmesdale's diary.

11. What is the name of the grave-yard Hawthorne mentions in his discussion of his ancestors?
(a) Town Cemetery.
(b) Salem Cemetery.
(c) Old Church burial-ground.
(d) Charter Street burial-ground.

12. Where does Chillingworth take up residence?
(a) With Dimmesdale, at the rectory.
(b) With Mistress Hibbins.
(c) At the Governor's.
(d) In the same rooming house as Dimmesdale.

13. How many years after the founding of Boston does Chapter 1 take place?
(a) Approximately 50 or 60.
(b) Approximately 15 or 20.
(c) Approximately 90 or 100.
(d) Approximately 150 or more.

14. In what month does Chapter 1 take place?
(a) December.
(b) March.
(c) June.
(d) October.

15. Whose widow is Mistress Hibbins?
(a) The minister's.
(b) The governor's.
(c) The narrator's.
(d) The magistrate's.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does the narrator describe the former queen of England, Elizabeth I?

2. What prominent wild plant grows just outside the door to the jail?

3. Why does Hawthorne refuse to change what he has written?

4. What is Hester delivering to the governor's house when she goes there in Chapter 7?

5. Whose voice is "tremulously sweet, rich, deep and broken?"

(see the answer keys)

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