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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What distinguishes the men in the "throng" at the beginning of thChapter 1?
2. What color is Hester's hair?
3. When the doctor gives Hester something to drink, what does she think is in the cup?
4. 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"?
5. While his health is failing, Dimmesdale has achieved what in his profession?
Short Essay Questions
1. Why does Dimmesdale not see through Chillingworth and understand his true (nefarious) agenda, according to the narrator in Chapter 10?
2. Describe the door to the jail.
3. What does the governor think about Hester as a mother?
4. How is Chillingworth able to see what Dimmesdale is hiding on his body?
5. Describe what Hawthorne's narrator thinks of Reverend Dimmesdale's voice.
6. What is Dimmesdale's argument for keeping Hester and Pearl together?
7. What happens to Hester when the jailer introduces Chillingworth?
8. What does Hester refuse to do during this chapter 3, despite pressure from her neighbors?
9. Does Hawthorne, in the end, decide to change anything?
10. Why is Hester standing before the townsfolk in the beginning of the novel?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Pearl is enigmatic, first because she is an infant and then because of her other-worldliness, but she plays a key role in structuring the narrative of Hester Prynne. Consider Pearl's function in this narrative--as a symbol, as a plot device, as well as as a character in her own right--and write an analytical essay that interprets how Pearl is characterized and the primary fictional methods Hawthorne uses to paint a picture of her.
Essay Topic 2
Community pressure to fit in and conform plays a major role in this narrative, particularly as compared to individual desires, either simply for individuality of expression or desires for things that are not sanctioned by the community. Write an essay that explains how Hawthorne dramatizes the tension between the pressure to conform on one hand and the risk of social stigma on the other. (You may want to pick a character that represents each, as a way to begin this analysis.)
Essay Topic 3
This novel relies on symbolism to tell its story of psychological torment. Pick several of the major symbols or symbolic systems at work in the novel, describe them in terms of Hawthorne's fictional technique and offer an interpretation of their symbolic meaning on multiple levels.
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This section contains 813 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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