The Scarlet Letter — Questions and answers

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What was the letter sewn onto Hester Prynne's dress when she stepped out of the prison in the Massachusetts colony?

Choices

  1. The letter P, for Prynne, in scarlet cloth
  2. The letter S, for Shame, in scarlet cloth
  3. The letter A, for Adultery, edged with gold thread ✓
  4. The letter M, for Massachusetts, in gold thread

Answer: The letter A, for Adultery, edged with gold thread

From page 1

Who was the physician that cared for Hester Prynne and baby Pearl in their prison cell?

Choices

  1. Roger Chillingworth, Hester Prynne's husband ✓
  2. Reverend Wilson, a minister from the town
  3. Arthur Dimmesdale, a young minister
  4. Governor Bellingham, a magistrate

Answer: Roger Chillingworth, Hester Prynne's husband

From page 2

What reason did Reverend Dimmesdale give Governor Bellingham for allowing Pearl to stay with Hester Prynne?

Choices

  1. Hester Prynne had promised to raise Pearl as a Puritan child
  2. Pearl had been plucked from a wild rosebush by the prison door
  3. Pearl was too wild to be raised by a godly family
  4. The bond between a mother and the child of her sin was a kind of holiness ✓

Answer: The bond between a mother and the child of her sin was a kind of holiness

From page 3

How did Hester Prynne support herself and Pearl in their cottage by the sea?

Choices

  1. She sold wildflowers and seaweed
  2. She received support from the townspeople
  3. She sewed the finest embroidery in the colony ✓
  4. She gathered herbs along the shore

Answer: She sewed the finest embroidery in the colony

From page 4

Who moved into Reverend Dimmesdale's house to tend to his failing health?

Choices

  1. Reverend Wilson, an old minister
  2. Roger Chillingworth, the learned new physician ✓
  3. Hester Prynne, a skilled seamstress
  4. Governor Bellingham, a leading man of the town

Answer: Roger Chillingworth, the learned new physician

From page 5

What did Hester Prynne reveal to Reverend Dimmesdale on the forest path?

Choices

  1. Roger Chillingworth was her husband and seeking revenge on Dimmesdale ✓
  2. They could flee to England on a ship together
  3. Pearl would not cross the brook until the scarlet letter was replaced
  4. She had torn the scarlet letter from her dress

Answer: Roger Chillingworth was her husband and seeking revenge on Dimmesdale

From page 6

What news did the master of the vessel bound for England share with Hester Prynne at the harbor?

Choices

  1. The ship would sail four days after Election Day
  2. His cabin would be fuller than she knew
  3. He was a friend of the minister's
  4. Roger Chillingworth had booked passage on the same ship ✓

Answer: Roger Chillingworth had booked passage on the same ship

From page 7

How did Reverend Dimmesdale appear during the procession on the colony's yearly festival?

Choices

  1. He seemed stronger and more alive than he had been in a long time ✓
  2. He seemed to be hiding something beneath his black coat
  3. He seemed to be spending the last of himself on that day
  4. He seemed pale and strained, as he often did

Answer: He seemed stronger and more alive than he had been in a long time

From page 8

What did Hester Prynne hear in Reverend Dimmesdale's sermon that others did not?

Choices

  1. A beautiful collection of words
  2. The voice of a man saying goodbye ✓
  3. The most moving sermon he had ever preached
  4. A saintly message for the congregation

Answer: The voice of a man saying goodbye

From page 9

What did Reverend Dimmesdale do on the scaffold before he died?

Choices

  1. He called Hester and Pearl up to stand beside him
  2. He told Roger Chillingworth he was ruining everything
  3. He confessed he was Pearl's father and showed what he had hidden beneath his coat ✓
  4. He said the scaffold was the only place he could be saved

Answer: He confessed he was Pearl's father and showed what he had hidden beneath his coat

From page 10