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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 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"?

2. Who is mentioned in Chapter 13 as a "foundress of a religious sect?"

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

4. What facial expression of Chillingworth displays his true malice, which the narrator calls "his blackness" in Chapter 14?

5. What does Pearl do when Dimmesdale kisses her?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator describe the public officials in Chapter 22, many of whom were real historical figures (figures such as Bradstreet, Endicott, etc.)?

2. 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?

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

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

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

6. 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?

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

8. Why does Hester say that Dimmesdale should travel somewhere, "whether in some remote village or in vast London, [...] in Germany, in France," etc?

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

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

Hawthorne plays with the notion of a happy ending near the end of the novel, teasing the reader with the notion that Dimmesdale and Hester might indeed live out a happily-ever-after ending. Consider the fates of the three major characters (Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth) and argue whether they experienced a happy ending or not. Be sure to use comparative analysis and textual examples.

Essay Topic 2

One major set of symbols in this work has to do with an interplay of the supernatural and the natural, both of which express various emotions or meanings at particular times in the book. Incorporating at least three examples from each category (three examples of the natural and three of the supernatural), define these concepts in terms of Hawthorne's novel, and interpret your examples in a comparative manner to show how they function in helping Hawthorne's narrator tell this story.

Essay Topic 3

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.

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