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| Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. Which of the following is NOT used by the narrator to describe Pearl in Chapter 21?
2. This group in the procession referred to in the title of Chapter 22 was showing "a stamp of majesty that made the warrior's haughty stride look vulgar"?
3. How does the narrator characterize Dimmesdale's sermon?
4. What, in Chapter 13, "glimmers" with an "unearthly ray"?
5. What does Hester mean when she says "Thou shalt not go alone" at the end of Chapter 17?
Short Essay Questions
1. Why, at the end of the book, is Hester making a baby garment?
2. Why do Hester and Pearl gather with other townspeople at the beginning of Chapter 21?
3. Describe the three suspected causes of the "A" carved into Dimmesdale's chest.
4. How does Pearl decorate herself at the end of Chapter 18 differently from how she did in the woods when Hester met Chillingworth?
5. In Chapter 13, Hawthorne says that some people would think that Hester's scarlet letter stands for "Able." Why?
6. What does Pearl do with the seaweed she finds, and what does it show about her as a character?
7. Many people pass Dimmesdale by in this chapter; why are so many people up so late and walking about?
8. 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?
9. 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?
10. When Dimmesdale refuses to travel and quit his post as minister, how does Hester change his mind?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Some critics might characterize parts of this work as feminist, particularly considering the role of Hester Prynne vis-a-vis her interactions with Governor Bellingham and the other public officials who want to take Pearl away from her. Argue this point in an analytical essay: does this particular sequence in the novel represent a feminist approach to custody? Decide whether you think so or not, and construct a well-reasoned argument that makes use of specific textual examples. (Note: there is no "right" answer: you can argue yes, no or maybe, as long as you construct a textual argument with specific and precise reasoning.)
Essay Topic 2
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 3
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.
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This section contains 1,215 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) |
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