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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who was the father of the Custom-House?
(a) Uncle Sam.
(b) The permanent Inspector.
(c) Hawthorne's grandfather.
(d) General Miller.

2. To whom does this description refer: "a seemingly careless arrangement of his heterogeneous garb"?
(a) Dimmesdale.
(b) Chillingworth.
(c) Wilson.
(d) Bellingham.

3. How does the narrator describe the former queen of England, Elizabeth I?
(a) Iron-willed.
(b) Dainty.
(c) Man-like.
(d) Feminine.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Hawthorne find in a "mysterious package" in the Custom-House?

2. Chillingworth has a degree from a university in which country?

3. How does Hawthorne metaphorically refer to the United States government in "The Custom House"?

4. According to Hawthorne, the reaction could not have been more violent if...?

5. How does Hester dress her daughter?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to Hester when the jailer introduces Chillingworth?

2. Why is Hester standing before the townsfolk in the beginning of the novel?

3. What is Dimmesdale's argument for keeping Hester and Pearl together?

4. What has happened to the original spirit of the town of Salem, as in, to the legacy of the original founders?

5. Why does Dimmesdale not see through Chillingworth and understand his true (nefarious) agenda, according to the narrator in Chapter 10?

6. In Chapter 2, why might it be Mistress Hibbins who would be in the jail?

7. Does Hawthorne, in the end, decide to change anything?

8. What does Hester refuse to do during this chapter 3, despite pressure from her neighbors?

9. What is Hawthorne's emotional state in the preface?

10. Why is "The Leech" an appropriate and significant name for this chapter?

(see the answer keys)

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