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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. This preface is the preface to which edition of the novel?

2. From which city is this preface written?

3. Whom do Dimmesdale and Chillingworth see out the window at the end of Chapter 10?

4. What is the title of Chapter 3?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. Why does Dimmesdale not see through Chillingworth and understand his true (nefarious) agenda, according to the narrator in Chapter 10?

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

7. What is Dimmesdale's argument for keeping Hester and Pearl together?

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

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

10. How is Chillingworth able to see what Dimmesdale is hiding on his body?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The final chapter offers three explanations for the bloody "A" etched on Dimmesdale's chest. Explain what each of the three possibilities are, according to the narrator, and answer the following questions: Why does Hawthorne chose to leave the reason ambiguous? What does this ambiguity offer to the reader or to the narrative? If you were Hawthorne, would you have made the same choice, and why? And finally, which of the three explanations do you mind most likely, and why? Be sure to answer in terms of this narrative.

Essay Topic 2

On your first read, "The Custom House" seems to have little or nothing to do with the "real" narrative of The Scarlet Letter, the story of Hester Prynne, yet Hawthorne's introductory essay establishes his narrative voice and justifies the origins of Hester's story. Write an analytical essay that argues the importance of this introduction to the narrative structure of the book. Key terms to consider are: frame narrative, narrative voice/point-of-view, symbolism, public/private life, etc.

Essay Topic 3

Offer a compare and contrast essay about the two major male characters in this book, Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth. Be sure to include analytical description of their looks and physical aspects, their emotional states, their motivations, and their conduct.

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