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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Chillingworth say in Chapter 14 the town council has been debating?
(a) Whether to exile Hester from Boston.
(b) Whether to take away the scarlet letter.
(c) Whether to arrest Hester again.
(d) Whether to take away Pearl from Hester.

2. "Its ranks were filled with gentlemen, who felt the stirrings of martial impulse" describes which group of men in the procession referred to in the title of Chapter 22?
(a) The soliders.
(b) The musicians.
(c) The public officials.
(d) The clergy.

3. Why, according to Pearl, does sunshine "run away and hide itself" from Hester?
(a) Because of the foliage.
(b) Because of her long gray dress.
(c) Because of the scarlet letter.
(d) Because of her fair skin.

4. Who is mentioned in Chapter 13 as a "foundress of a religious sect?"
(a) Hibbins.
(b) Hutichison.
(c) Mother Theresa.
(d) Bradstreet.

5. According to the narrator, which of the following has NOT been one of Hester's "teachers"?
(a) Guilt.
(b) Solitude.
(c) Shame.
(d) Despair.

6. What, according to many of the townspeople who have come to appreciate Hester, should the A stand for?
(a) Able.
(b) Aloof.
(c) Addled.
(d) Angel.

7. How many years have passed so far in this novel, in Chapter 13?
(a) Eleven.
(b) Less than one.
(c) Seven.
(d) Three.

8. While she is playing, Pearl makes a little boat out of what?
(a) Sand dollars.
(b) Birch bark.
(c) Sea weed.
(d) Acorns.

9. Where is the ship the Spanish Main sailing?
(a) Atlanta.
(b) Barcelona.
(c) Bristol.
(d) Boston.

10. What does Pearl do with sea weed?
(a) Lines her pockets with it.
(b) Eats it.
(c) Wraps it about her head.
(d) Spreads it along the beach.

11. What, in Chapter 13, "glimmers" with an "unearthly ray"?
(a) The meteor/falling star.
(b) Chillingworth's malice.
(c) The scarlet letter.
(d) Pearl's eyes.

12. With what kind of natural objects has Pearl decorated herself in Chapter 18?
(a) Maple leaves.
(b) Seashells.
(c) Wildflowers.
(d) Sand and driftwood.

13. In what month does this "obscure night" take place in Chapter 12?
(a) January.
(b) November.
(c) May.
(d) August.

14. What had Dimmesdale been doing to himself?
(a) He had been staying awake all night.
(b) He had been fasting.
(c) He had been self-flagellating.
(d) He had been treating his own illness.

15. What marks particular attendants of the holiday as members of their forest settlements?
(a) Their scarlet F's.
(b) Their deer-skin clothing.
(c) Their long hair.
(d) Their rough speech.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the holiday referred to in the title of Chapter 21?

2. What does Hester threaten to do at the end of Chapter 14?

3. What does Dimmesdale tell Chillingworth while he is writing the sermon is Chapter 20?

4. When Pearl repeatedly asks Hester what the letter stand for, what does Hester tell her in Chapter 15?

5. What suggests that Pearl will have a child of her own at the end of the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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