The Scarlet Letter Study Guide Chapter One: The Prison Door 1. What colony is the setting for the novel? Where does the opening chapter take place? Pg._____
2. For what two “practical necessities” did the new colony set aside land? Pg._____
3. What conclusion can you come to about the importance of Anne Hutchinson? Pg._____
4. What two possible symbols does the rose have for the reader? Pg._____
The Scarlet Letter Study Guide Chapter Two: The Market Place 1. What is the relationship between religion and the law in Puritan New England? Pg._____
2. What punishments would the Puritan women have given Hester Prynne if it were left to them?
3. Describe the appearance of Hester Prynne. Pg._____
4. What is Hester’s sin? Punishment? Pg._____
5. What is interesting about the “A” on her bodice? Pg._____
6. Why is Hester taken to the scaffold in the market-place? Pg._____
7. What things does Hester think about while she is on the scaffold? Pg._____
8. How old is her baby? Pg._____ 1
9. What detail is given to suggest that the baby was born in jail? Pg. _____
The Scarlet Letter Study Guide Chapter Three: The Recognition 1. Describe the man who is standing on the outskirts of the crowd. Pg._____
2. What gesture does he make to Hester that suggests he knows her? Pg._____
3. What does the stranger learn from the townsman next to him? Pg._____
4. What is the usual punishment for adultery? Why is Hester’s punishment less severe? Pg._____
5. What are Hester’s feelings towards the stranger? Pg._____
6. Who is Bellingham? John Wilson? What do they want Hester to do? Pg._____
7. Describe Dimmesdale. Pg. _____
8. What does Dimmesdale ask Hester to do? Pg._____
9. Why won’t Hester name the child’s father? Pg._____
The Scarlet Letter Study Guide Chapter Four: The Interview 1. How does Hester act when she returns to prison? Pg._____
2. Why does the jailer call a doctor? Pg._____
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3. Where did the doctor learn his skill? Pg._____
4. Quote at least one line that shows the doctor and Hester knew each other before now. Pg._____
5. What is the relationship between Chillingworth and Hester? Pg._____
6. Why should Hester’s marriage be a failure? Pg._____
7. Did Hester ever love her husband? Pg._____
8. What does Chillingworth vow to do? Pg._____
9. What secret does Chillingworth ask Hester to keep? Pg._____
10. What symbol is introduced for Chillingworth in Hester’s final lines in this chapter? Pg._____
The Scarlet Letter Study Guide Chapter Five: Hester at Her Needle 1. What “general symbol” has Hester become? Pg._____
2. Give at least two reasons Hester does not leave the colony. Pg._____
3. Describe Hester’s home. Pg._____
4. What talent did Hester use to support herself and Pearl? Pg._____
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5. What garments is Hester not allowed to touch? Pg._____
6. What type of dress did Hester wear? Pearl? Pg._____
7. What does Hester do that shows she has a charitable nature? Pg._____
8. How did the poor, the ladies of Boston, the clergy, and the children treat Hester? Pg._____
9. What special knowledge does Hester feel the scarlet letter gives her? Pg.____
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