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

2. Whose widow is Mistress Hibbins?
(a) The minister's.
(b) The narrator's.
(c) The magistrate's.
(d) The governor's.

3. Who is NOT among the crowd shaming Hester?
(a) Hester's parents.
(b) The judges.
(c) Hester's pastor.
(d) The governor.

4. Which minister in the book has "a border of grizzled locks beneath his skull-cap" and gray eyes?
(a) Dimmesdale.
(b) Chillingworth.
(c) Wilson.
(d) Lee.

5. When the doctor gives Hester something to drink, what does she think is in the cup?
(a) A truth serum.
(b) Poison.
(c) Water.
(d) Wine.

Short Answer Questions

1. What kind of men are rare in the colony, according to the narrator?

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

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

4. The title of Chapter 9 ("The Leech") refers to which character?

5. Chillingworth is described as which of the following in Chapter 11?

Short Essay Questions

1. Name one of the two reasons Hawthorne suspects that the plant standing outside the prison survived.

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

3. What does the governor think about Hester as a mother?

4. As the relationship between Chillingworth and Dimmesdale develops in Chapter 9, what do the townspeople begin to suspect about Dimmesdale and why?

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

6. What does Hawthorne promise to "alter or expunge"?

7. What kind of plant stands outside the prison, offering a contrast in color and form? Describe what the narrator says about it.

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

9. Of all the finery in the governor's mansion, what does Pearl cry for most of all?

10. Why does Hester stay in town after she is released from jail in Chapter 5?

(see the answer keys)

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