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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. According to the narrator, what is the first thing that Pearl noticed, as a baby?
(a) Hester's long black hair.
(b) Her own curls.
(c) Seashells.
(d) The scarlet letter.

3. What quiets Pearl in this when she wants something from the governor's garden?
(a) Her nanny.
(b) The appearance of the governor.
(c) Her obedience to Hester.
(d) The gardener gives her what she wants.

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

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

6. 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) Wilson.
(b) Lee.
(c) Dimmesdale.
(d) Bellingham.

7. Why does Hawthorne refuse to change what he has written?
(a) He enjoys the notoriety.
(b) He has made too much money from it.
(c) He thinks it is true.
(d) He wants to hurt the victim of his wit.

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

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

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

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

12. What are the two non-Puritan sects mentioned in this Chapter 2?
(a) Antimonian and Quaker.
(b) Antimonian, Quaker, and Catholic.
(c) Quaker and Catholic.
(d) Shaker and Quaker.

13. Chose which of the following best describes the tone in the last sentence of Chapter 1?
(a) Sunny.
(b) Bright.
(c) Ambivalent.
(d) Somber.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What color is the thread that embroiders the scarlet letter?

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

3. "Hester at her WHAT" is the title of Chapter 5?

4. To whom does this description refer: "a seemingly careless arrangement of his heterogeneous garb"?

5. Which political party does Hawthorne belong?

(see the answer keys)

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