The Scarlet Letter Chapters 1-4
What is the setting of The Scarlet Letter?
Boston
What item is Hester delivering to the governor when she visits in ch. 7?
gloves
What is the conceit in "Huswifery"?
Taylor compares spiritual growth to the steps required to make clothing.
Why is Chillingworth able to monitor all of Dimmesdale's movements?
They live in the same boarding house.
How has the meaning of the scarlet letter changed in Ch. 13?
The villagers now claim that it means ABLE.
What promise does Chillingworth ask Hester to make?
To keep his identity a secret.
Who is described as the physical manifestation of the Scarlet Letter?
Pearl
In On Plymouth Plantation, what happened to the "lustie" seaman? Why did this happen (according to Bradford)?
The seaman is always insulting other people for being sick; however, ironically he gets very ill and dies. Bradford claims this is the hand of God smiting him.
In the Scarlet Letter who is described as the "leech"?
Chillingworth
What is Hester's reaction to hearing that the magistrates are considering allowing her to remove the scarlet letter?
She says that the magistrates do not have the power to remove the badge. She claims that if she was worthy enough for it to be removed, the letter would fall off of its own accord.
When Hester is standing on the scaffold, what religious figure does Hawthorne compare her to?
He compares her to Divine Maternity.
Governer Bellingham has a sister who is a witch. What is her name?
Mistress Hibbens
Wonders of the Invisible World
What happened to Elizabeth How's brother-in-law's cattle?
They were bewitched to death and behaved weirdly by “leaping three or four foot high, turning about, speaking, falling, and dying at once” (Mather).
She whispers gibberish in his ear.
In ch. 15 Hester reflects on her marriage. What behavior of Chillingworth's does Hester feel was a greater wrong than her adultery?
Chillingworth convinced Hester that she was happy with him.
Finish the quote.
Hester: My child must seek a ______ _______ ; she shall never know an earthly one.
My child must seek a heavenly Father; she shall never know an earthly one!
What reason does Dimmesdale give for allowing Hester to raise her child?
He says that raising Pearl will keep Hester from falling into "blacker depths of sin."
What is Johnathan Edward's authorial purpose in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God? What would he want his audience to do?
He is trying to inspire fear in his audience so that they will repent of their sins and follow God.
Chillingworth gathers black weeds growing on a man's grave. What do they represent?
They represent the guilt and shame of unconfessed sin.
Finish the quote.
Let men tremble to win the hand of woman, unless they win along with it the utmost ________ of her heart.
passion
Chillingworth says he understands why his marriage with Hester wasn't going to work out. What TWO reasons does he give?
He describes himself as "a man of thought...having already given my best years to feed the hungry dream of knowledge" meaning he is much older than her (Hawthorne 77). He also says he has a "physical deformity" which makes him unattractive to her (77).
What are the two reasons Hester chooses not to leave the colony?
She wants to repent for her sin and she wants to stay close to the father of her baby.
In the last stanza of "Upon a Spider Catching a Fly," the speaker compares himself to what animal?
A nightingale.
What is ironic about Dimmesdale's immense success as a minister?
The more he claims to be a vile and corrupted minister, the more his congregation praises him, thinking that he is just being modest.
What is the "sad transformation" that has happened to Hester in ch. 13?
She has lost much of her beauty and vibrant personality. All the life has been drained out of her.