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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What had Dimmesdale been doing to himself?
(a) He had been treating his own illness.
(b) He had been self-flagellating.
(c) He had been staying awake all night.
(d) He had been fasting.

2. What does Hester fling next to the brook?
(a) Her bonnet.
(b) Chillingworth's herbs.
(c) Her scarlet letter.
(d) Dimmesdale's Bible.

3. Where is Hester when Chillingworth leaves, "his gray beard almost" touching the ground?
(a) In the woods.
(b) At the roominghouse.
(c) In church.
(d) At the governor's.

4. Dimmesdale claims that his scarlet letter burns how?
(a) On his soul.
(b) In secret.
(c) In God's eyes.
(d) On the inside.

5. When Pearl will not cross the brook, what does Hester tell her she can leap like?
(a) Young deer.
(b) Giant grasshopper.
(c) Little girls.
(d) Bull frog.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. "Its ranks were filled with gentlemen, who felt the stirrings of martial impulse" describes which group of men in the procession referred to in the title of Chapter 22?

3. What marks particular attendants of the holiday as members of their forest settlements?

4. What is the title of Chapter 20?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. Many people pass Dimmesdale by in this chapter; why are so many people up so late and walking about?

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 Hester's heart sink when she sees Dimmesdale in the procession during the public holiday?

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

5. In Chapter 14, what does Hester ask of Chillingworth?

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

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

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

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

10. When Dimmesdale refuses to travel and quit his post as minister, how does Hester change his mind?

(see the answer keys)

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