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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Whose name does the doctor want Hester to reveal?
(a) The name of her lover.
(b) The name of her child.
(c) The name of the witch.
(d) The name of her husband.

2. In what point of view is "The Custom House" written?
(a) First.
(b) Third person, limited.
(c) Third person, omniscient.
(d) Second.

3. What are the "delicate gems" referred to at the end of Chapter 1?
(a) Flowers.
(b) Hester's pearl necklace.
(c) The spikes on the door to the jail.
(d) The ladies in the crowd.

4. The "public disapprobation" refers to...?
(a) Criticism.
(b) Praise.
(c) Approval.
(d) Celebration.

5. Who was the father of the Custom-House?
(a) General Miller.
(b) The permanent Inspector.
(c) Uncle Sam.
(d) Hawthorne's grandfather.

6. Who is Hester's legal husband?
(a) Dimmesdale.
(b) Chillingworth.
(c) Wilson.
(d) Lee.

7. Why do most Puritans fast, according to the narrator?
(a) To cure disease.
(b) To purify their bodies.
(c) To lose weight.
(d) To conserve food.

8. The following description of someone's eyes in Chapter 10 refers to which character: "burning blue and ominous, like the reflection of a furnace....like one of those gleams of ghastly fire"?
(a) Hester.
(b) Chillingworth.
(c) Pearl.
(d) Dimmesdale.

9. At the governor's house when the men are debating Hester's custody, what does one of them say Pearl should have been named?
(a) Scarlet, Rose or Diamond.
(b) Ruby, Coral or Red Rose.
(c) Pinkie, Cora or Rosa.
(d) Ruby, Scarlet or Roseanna.

10. Who is to wear the thing Hester is delivering to the governor's house?
(a) The governor's daughter.
(b) The governor's wife.
(c) The governor himself.
(d) The governor's servants.

11. Where is Hester when she and Pearl are examined by the doctor?
(a) At the governor's mansion.
(b) In jail.
(c) At the doctor's office.
(d) In church.

12. What are the two non-Puritan sects mentioned in this Chapter 2?
(a) Quaker and Catholic.
(b) Shaker and Quaker.
(c) Antimonian and Quaker.
(d) Antimonian, Quaker, and Catholic.

13. While his health is failing, Dimmesdale has achieved what in his profession?
(a) "Brillant popularity."
(b) "Populist ire."
(c) "Sanctimonius reputation."
(d) "Sturdier texture."

14. How does Hawthorne describe the historic Salem of years ago?
(a) A dour harbor.
(b) A busy metropolis.
(c) A sad sailing town.
(d) A bustling port.

15. How does Hester dress her daughter?
(a) In "infinite variety."
(b) In "rustic weeds."
(c) In the "richest tissue."
(d) In "paler loveliness."

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is Pearl's mother questioned about whether or not she should have custody of the baby?

2. Whose widow is Mistress Hibbins?

3. Chapter 6 is named after which character?

4. Hawthorne utterly disclaims what kind of motives?

5. What prominent wild plant grows just outside the door to the jail?

(see the answer keys)

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