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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. How is Hibbins related to the Governor?

2. Despite his triumph in delivering the sermon in Chapter 23, how does Dimmesdale appear?

3. What does Chillingworth say in Chapter 14 the town council has been debating?

4. What does Pearl do with sea weed?

5. How does the narrator characterize Dimmesdale's sermon?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. Why, in Chapter 18, does Hester remove the scarlet letter and fling it into a brook?

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

9. Why does Hawthorne describe Pearl, in Chapter 19, as a "living hieroglyphic."

10. What, according to the narrator, enlivened the public holiday with "some diversity of hue?"

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Much of the emotional struggle in this novel comes from a tension between public shame and private guilt. In an analytical essay, explain what each of these terms means in the scope of this novel, and how Hawthorne dramatizes each idea. Be sure to interpret them in terms of the fictional elements (characterization, setting, plot action, mood, etc.) Hawthorne uses to demonstrate them.

Essay Topic 2

Offer a compare and contrast essay about the two major male characters in this book, Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth. Be sure to include analytical description of their looks and physical aspects, their emotional states, their motivations, and their conduct.

Essay Topic 3

Specific colors play a role in telling the story, especially the colors red and black. While "red" is manifested in the scarlet letter (and other symbolic objects), "black" often remains a metaphorical color in this novel. Write an analytical essay that examines Hawthorne's use of these colors, in terms of metaphor as well as literal meaning in the novel.

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