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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which description does not apply to Dimmesdale?
(a) Weak frame.
(b) Healthy.
(c) Sensitive.
(d) Nervous temperament.

2. Why does Hester stay in New England?
(a) She enjoys the brisk winter.
(b) Her family is there.
(c) It is the scene of her crime.
(d) She enjoys whaling.

3. Whom do Dimmesdale and Chillingworth see out the window at the end of Chapter 10?
(a) Just Pearl.
(b) Just Hester.
(c) Their own reflections.
(d) Hester and Pearl.

4. The following description of clothing belongs to which community leader: "a dark feather in his hat, a border of embroidery on his cloak, and a black velvet tunic beneath"?
(a) Lee.
(b) Bellingham.
(c) Dimmesdale.
(d) Wilson.

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

6. The title of Chapter 5 refers to what?
(a) Hester's work.
(b) Hester's love life.
(c) Hester's guilt.
(d) Hester's past.

7. What distinguishes the men in the "throng" at the beginning of thChapter 1?
(a) They are bearded.
(b) They are ministers.
(c) They are fat.
(d) They are bald.

8. How old is the baby in Hester's arms when we first see her?
(a) A week.
(b) Three days.
(c) Six months.
(d) Three months.

9. Which character seeks to make him or herself "the one trusted friend, to whom should be confided all the fear"?
(a) Hibbins.
(b) Wilson.
(c) Chillingworth.
(d) Dimmesdale.

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

11. What color is the thread that embroiders the scarlet letter?
(a) Red.
(b) Silver.
(c) Gold.
(d) Black.

12. Where was Reverend Dimmesdale trained in religion?
(a) Oxford.
(b) Cambridge.
(c) Harvard.
(d) Princeton.

13. Hawthorne utterly disclaims what kind of motives?
(a) Personal and politcal.
(b) Petty and partisan.
(c) Spiritual and political.
(d) Personal, legal and moral.

14. According to Hawthorne, the reaction could not have been more violent if...?
(a) He had murdered someone.
(b) He had kidnapped someone.
(c) He had committed adultery.
(d) He had burned down the Custom-House.

15. Where are Dimmesdale's parents?
(a) In Salem.
(b) In England.
(c) In Boston.
(d) Dead.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to the narrator, what is the first thing that Pearl noticed, as a baby?

2. The "public disapprobation" refers to...?

3. How many years after the founding of Boston does Chapter 1 take place?

4. What is NOT one of the possible crimes mentioned in this Chapter 2, as a reason people might flock to the prison?

5. Against whom is Hawthorne alleged to harbor a "peculiar malevolence"?

(see the answer keys)

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