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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. What does Hester threaten to do at the end of Chapter 14?
2. Where is the ship the Spanish Main sailing?
3. What suggests that Pearl will have a child of her own at the end of the novel?
4. Who is mentioned in Chapter 13 as a "foundress of a religious sect?"
5. What does Hester tell Dimmesdale about Chillingworth in Chapter 17?
Short Essay Questions
1. According to the narrator, what appeared to be Dimmesdale's subject, in his sermon in Chapter 23?
2. Many people pass Dimmesdale by in this chapter; why are so many people up so late and walking about?
3. What does Pearl do with the seaweed she finds, and what does it show about her as a character?
4. 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?
5. Why does Hester go to meet Dimmesdale in the woods?
6. In Chapter 14, why is Chillingworth in the woods?
7. Why does Hester's heart sink when she sees Dimmesdale in the procession during the public holiday?
8. In Chapter 15, when Pearl asks Hester what the letter stands for, what does Hester reply?
9. Why, in Chapter 18, does Hester remove the scarlet letter and fling it into a brook?
10. Why do Hester and Pearl gather with other townspeople at the beginning of Chapter 21?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Pearl is enigmatic, first because she is an infant and then because of her other-worldliness, but she plays a key role in structuring the narrative of Hester Prynne. Consider Pearl's function in this narrative--as a symbol, as a plot device, as well as as a character in her own right--and write an analytical essay that interprets how Pearl is characterized and the primary fictional methods Hawthorne uses to paint a picture of her.
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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This section contains 1,037 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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