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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. In Chapter 14, the narrator symbolized the truth by what?

2. What does Hester fling next to the brook?

3. Hester is a self-ordained what?

4. Which of the following is NOT used by the narrator to describe Pearl in Chapter 21?

5. Who in the audience taunts Hester and Pearl at the appearance of Dimmesdale?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where does Dimmesdale go at the beginning of Chapter 12, and why?

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

3. Why does Hester go to meet Dimmesdale in the woods?

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

5. What does Pearl do with the seaweed she finds, and what does it show about her as a character?

6. Describe the three suspected causes of the "A" carved into Dimmesdale's chest.

7. How does Hawthorne describe Dimmesdale, either physically or emotionally, at the beginning of Chapter 13?

8. In Chapter 15, when Pearl asks Hester what the letter stands for, what does Hester reply?

9. According to the narrator, what appeared to be Dimmesdale's subject, in his sermon in Chapter 23?

10. In Chapter 13, Hawthorne says that some people would think that Hester's scarlet letter stands for "Able." Why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

Despite the dark tone and dour mood of this novel, Hawthorne's narrative voice does offer some levity, irony and humor to lighten the mood at key points in this novel, including the irony in some of the chapter titles. Pick several examples of this irony, other forms of irony, archness/humor, and explain how these examples help lighten the mood.

Essay Topic 3

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.

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