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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. While his health is failing, Dimmesdale has achieved what in his profession?
(a) "Sanctimonius reputation."
(b) "Sturdier texture."
(c) "Brillant popularity."
(d) "Populist ire."

3. Which character is described as having a "wildflower prettiness?"
(a) Chillingworth.
(b) Pearl.
(c) Hester.
(d) Hibbins.

4. What are the "delicate gems" referred to at the end of Chapter 1?
(a) The spikes on the door to the jail.
(b) The ladies in the crowd.
(c) Flowers.
(d) Hester's pearl necklace.

5. What is the "pedestal of infamy?"
(a) The altar.
(b) The governor's mantle.
(c) The steeple.
(d) The scaffold.

6. What is the title of the first chapter?
(a) The Prison-Door.
(b) Gaol-Door Rock.
(c) TheJail-Door.
(d) The Prison Rose.

7. Which plant is NOT mentioned in Chapter 1?
(a) Apple-peru.
(b) Pigweed.
(c) Milkweed.
(d) Burdock.

8. Which political party does Hawthorne belong?
(a) Republican.
(b) Bull Moose.
(c) Whig.
(d) Tory.

9. Which part of The Scarlet Letter does this preface specifically refer to?
(a) The climax.
(b) "The Custom-House."
(c) The denouement.
(d) "The New England Holiday,"

10. What, at the end of Chapter 11, is the "only truth" for Dimmesdale?
(a) "The malice in Chillingworth's eyes."
(b) "The mercy of almightly Heaven."
(c) "The anguish in his inmost soul."
(d) "The joy in his beating heart."

11. What is one of Chillingworth's distinguishing physical features?
(a) He is missing most of the toes on his left foot.
(b) He is lame in his right leg.
(c) His left eye droops.
(d) One of his shoulders is higher than the other.

12. 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) Dimmesdale.
(c) Hester.
(d) Chillingworth.

13. Hawthorne surmises that if there were a Papist in the crowd, whom would Hester remind him of?
(a) Mary Magdalene.
(b) The Virgin Mary.
(c) Mother Theresa.
(d) The pope.

14. The tone of this preface is best described as...
(a) Sad.
(b) Remorseful.
(c) Arch.
(d) Angry.

15. What color is Hester's hair?
(a) Blond.
(b) Dark.
(c) Gray.
(d) Red.

Short Answer Questions

1. Hawthorne writes of his surprise and what in the first lines of the preface?

2. Where was Reverend Dimmesdale trained in religion?

3. Which character seeks to make him or herself "the one trusted friend, to whom should be confided all the fear"?

4. Why is Pearl's mother questioned about whether or not she should have custody of the baby?

5. When Wilson asks Pearl who made her, what does she answer?

(see the answer keys)

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