A STEP BEYOND

TESTS AND ANSWERS

TEST 1

_____ 1. Hester's crime of adultery -

A. was greeted with mixed reactions in King's Chapel

B. made her liable to capital punishment

C. made her infamous throughout the thirteen colonies

_____ 2. Hester and Dimmesdale disagreed on the -

A. morality of elopement

B. power of prayer

C. possibility of redemption

_____ 3. Hester believed that humans have a "right to happiness" and that -

A. her love for Dimmesdale was sacred

B. her child was her salvation

C. she owed nothing to contemporary morality

_____ 4. Chillingworth was willing to violate human and spiritual realities -

A. because of his warped interpretation of religion

B. in pursuit of his egotistical vengeance

C. because the law and the church had failed him

_____ 5. In branding Hester with the scarlet letter, the community was -

A. affirming its own self-righteousness B. doling out well-reasoned justice C. inviting holy retribution

_____ 6. Hawthorne adds to the fascination of the scarlet letter by telling of -

I. an A in the sky
II. historical sinners who wore similar marks of shame
III. the different ways in which it affected people

A. I and II

B. I and III

C. II and III

_____ 7. In "The Custom House" introduction, Hawthorne -

I. provides authenticity for the scarlet letter story II. tells us of his New England roots III. discusses Puritan frailties

A. I and II only

B. II and III only

C. I, II, and III

_____ 8. Good and evil do battle for Dimmesdale's soul in the forms of -

A. Pearl and Mistress Hibbins

B. Hester and Chillingworth

C. Governor Bellingham and John Wilson

_____ 9. A theme (or themes) of the novel is (are) -

I. sin cannot be hidden from God
II. sinners should fear God's justice
III. there is nothing more reprehensible than adultery

A. I and II only

B. II and III only

C. I, II, and III

_____ 10. Hawthorne is helped in the telling of his tale by the -

A. public's interest in marital infidelity

B. harshness of the Puritan ethic

C. eloquence of his major characters

11. Describe the forest and the market-place and explain their significance as settings. -

12. It has been said that Hawthorne is interested in sin not as a theological subject, but as a psychological force in the lives of the early New England colonists. Describe the psychological effects of sin on one of the major characters in The Scarlet Letter. -

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