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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. How does the narrator describe the former queen of England, Elizabeth I?

2. In what month does Chapter 1 take place?

3. Hester's work is seen everywhere with the exception of:

4. What prominent wild plant grows just outside the door to the jail?

5. What is the shape of the hats worn in the "throng"?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe the door to the jail.

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

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

5. Describe the setting Hawthorne describes of the busy wharf.

6. What are some examples of Chillingworth's growing power over Dimmesdale?

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

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

9. What does Chillingworth implore Hester to do when they meet in the jail?

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

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

One major set of symbols in this work has to do with an interplay of the supernatural and the natural, both of which express various emotions or meanings at particular times in the book. Incorporating at least three examples from each category (three examples of the natural and three of the supernatural), define these concepts in terms of Hawthorne's novel, and interpret your examples in a comparative manner to show how they function in helping Hawthorne's narrator tell this story.

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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