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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. Which character says, ironically, "why should a wretched man, guilty, we will say, of murder, prefer to keep the dead corpse buried in his own heart, rather than fling it forth at once"?
(a) Dimmesdale.
(b) Chillingworth.
(c) Hester.
(d) Wilson.

2. Whose name does the doctor want Hester to reveal?
(a) The name of her husband.
(b) The name of the witch.
(c) The name of her child.
(d) The name of her lover.

3. What are the "delicate gems" referred to at the end of Chapter 1?
(a) The spikes on the door to the jail.
(b) The ladies in the crowd.
(c) Hester's pearl necklace.
(d) Flowers.

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

5. Where was Hester's "happy infancy and stainless maidenhood?"
(a) Rural England.
(b) Bustling London.
(c) Amsterdam.
(d) Salem.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what point of view is "The Custom House" written?

2. Where are Dimmesdale's parents?

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

4. Who thinks that Hester's punishment/sentence is too light?

5. Whose widow is Mistress Hibbins?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does Hawthorne find alongside the scarlet letter?

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

4. How does Dimmesdale respond to his growing guilt? How does he punish himself?

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

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

7. Describe the clothing worn by the "throng of bearded men" at the beginning of Chapter 1.

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

9. Describe the people referred to as the five in the following quotation: "If the hussy stood for judgment before us five, that are now here in a knot together"?

10. Why does Hawthorne decide to republish the offending introduction?

(see the answer keys)

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