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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. Whom does Dimmesdale call up to join him in front of everyone?
(a) Hester and Pearl.
(b) Hester.
(c) Chillingworth.
(d) Wilson.

2. What does Hester tell Dimmesdale about Chillingworth in Chapter 17?
(a) That he is really a Catholic.
(b) That he is on an undercover mission for the governor.
(c) That he is her husband.
(d) That he is not really a doctor.

3. Who is said to ride "with Satan through the air?"
(a) Witches.
(b) Banshees.
(c) Bats.
(d) Demons.

4. What does Dimmesdale tell Chillingworth while he is writing the sermon is Chapter 20?
(a) That he knows who Hester's lover is.
(b) That he no longer needs his services as doctor.
(c) That he is feeling close to death.
(d) That he knows Chillingworth's true identity.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Why, according to Pearl, does sunshine "run away and hide itself" from Hester?

2. Hester is a self-ordained what?

3. What describes Dimmesdale's hand, when Hester touches it?

4. Where does the minister go in the beginning of Chapter 12?

5. In Chapter 19, how does Dimmesdale say Pearl looks?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Hawthorne describe Pearl, in Chapter 19, as a "living hieroglyphic."

2. Why does Chillingworth attempt to stop Hester and Pearl from joining Dimmesdale on the scaffold?

3. According to the narrator, what appeared to be Dimmesdale's subject, in his sermon in Chapter 23?

4. What kinds of thoughts occur to Dimmesdale when he sees a deacon on the way home in Chapter 20 and why?

5. In Chapter 16, Hester changes her story to Pearl about the significance of the scarlet letter. What does she say about the letter in Chapter 16?

6. Why, at the end of the book, is Hester making a baby garment?

7. Why does Hester's heart sink when she sees Dimmesdale in the procession during the public holiday?

8. Why does Hester go to meet Dimmesdale in the woods?

9. How does the narrator describe the public officials in Chapter 22, many of whom were real historical figures (figures such as Bradstreet, Endicott, etc.)?

10. How does Hawthorne describe Dimmesdale, either physically or emotionally, at the beginning of Chapter 13?

(see the answer keys)

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