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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. Where is Hester when she and Pearl are examined by the doctor?
2. In what point of view is "The Custom House" written?
3. Where does Chillingworth take up residence?
4. What symbol of the United States hands in front of the Custom-House?
5. What is the "pedestal of infamy?"
Short Essay Questions
1. What is Hawthorne's emotional state in the preface?
2. What does Chillingworth implore Hester to do when they meet in the jail?
3. Describe the door to the jail.
4. What is Dimmesdale's argument for keeping Hester and Pearl together?
5. Why does Dimmesdale not see through Chillingworth and understand his true (nefarious) agenda, according to the narrator in Chapter 10?
6. What does Hawthorne find alongside the scarlet letter?
7. When Hester delivers gloves to the governor, what is the other reason for her going there?
8. Describe what Hawthorne's narrator thinks of Reverend Dimmesdale's voice.
9. How does Pearl react to other children?
10. As the relationship between Chillingworth and Dimmesdale develops in Chapter 9, what do the townspeople begin to suspect about Dimmesdale and why?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Hawthorne's preface to this novel claims that he has gotten himself in trouble for an unflattering portrait of the Customs Inspector, yet nonetheless, the novel features many real historical people anyway. Take up one of these real historical persons (for example, Governor Bellingham or Mistress Hibbins) and offer a descriptive analysis of their role in the narrative. How does Hawthorne characterize these real historical people? To what dramatic purposes or fictional ends does he put them alongside the invented characters? Be sure to consider the role these minor characters play in the historical setting of this novel.
Essay Topic 2
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 3
Hypocrisy emerges as a major theme of this book. Pick a set of examples (such as one or two of the major characters, or specific chapters/settings/events) that demonstrate the forms of hypocrisy Hawthorne saw in Puritan life, and write an essay that explains them in terms of Hawthorne's criticism of such hypocrisy.
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This section contains 847 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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