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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, according to many of the townspeople who have come to appreciate Hester, should the A stand for?

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

3. Where does Dimmesdale imagine a "scarlet token?"

4. What color is the letter A Pearl fashions for herself out of natural objects ?

5. Which of the following creatures is not mentioned while Pearl plays on the shore?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 14, why is Chillingworth in the woods?

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

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

4. Why will Hester and Dimmesdale have to head back to Europe, instead of moving somewhere more rural or remote?

5. Why do Hester and Pearl gather with other townspeople at the beginning of Chapter 21?

6. How does Pearl decorate herself at the end of Chapter 18 differently from how she did in the woods when Hester met Chillingworth?

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

8. When Hester calls for Pearl to come to her in Chapter 19, Pearl will not move from her spot in the woods. What prevents her from going to her mother?

9. 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?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One theme of this novel is the competition between science and medicine on the one hand and religion on the other, particularly in terms of someone's physical well-being. Write an essay that describes the theme of sickness, health, and wellness (in terms of both the physical as well as the emotional/mental) that takes into account Hawthorne's dramatizing of a competition between science and medicine.

Essay Topic 2

Specific colors play a role in telling the story, especially the colors red and black. While "red" is manifested in the scarlet letter (and other symbolic objects), "black" often remains a metaphorical color in this novel. Write an analytical essay that examines Hawthorne's use of these colors, in terms of metaphor as well as literal meaning in the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Much of the emotional struggle in this novel comes from a tension between public shame and private guilt. In an analytical essay, explain what each of these terms means in the scope of this novel, and how Hawthorne dramatizes each idea. Be sure to interpret them in terms of the fictional elements (characterization, setting, plot action, mood, etc.) Hawthorne uses to demonstrate them.

(see the answer keys)

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