Winter Off-Track Assignment
English 11
Ms. Ibacache
VOCABULARY:
Complete Units 8 and 9, as well as the review that follows (the review section has a
blue border; stop once you reach unit 10). Make sure that you spend time studying the
units before we get back to school; we will have an exam the first week (probably the
second day of class).
LITERATURE:
Since you were unable to complete the reading for The Scarlet Letter, we will be
finishing it over the break. Otherwise, you will forget too much to be able to complete
the novel successfully in January. If 75% of the class completes the reading and the
work, I will offer an extra credit assignment when we get back. Finish reading the novel
and answer the following questions (make sure you label the sections).
Chapters 11 and 12
1. What incident changes the relationship between Dimmesdale and Chillingworth?
Is Dimmesdale aware of Chillingworth’s feelings toward him?
2. In what way does Chillingworth become a “chief actor in the poor minister’s
interior world”?
3. What happens to Dimmesdale’s physical and emotional health? What is the
public reaction to the changes in Dimmesdale?
4. What is unusual about the public reaction to the deterioration of Dimmesdale’s
physical and emotional health? In what way does public opinion affect
Dimmesdale?
5. When does Dimmesdale go to the scaffold outside the meeting house? What
scene does Dimmesdale play in his mind as he stands on the scaffold? Why do
Hester and Pearl walk by, and what do the three do?
6. What drives Dimmesdale to the scaffold? Why does he deny Pearl’s request that
he stand with them the next day at noon?
7. What phenomenon do Hester, Dimmesdale, and Pearl observe as they stand
together? Who first notices Chillingworth in the darkness?
8. The next day, why does Dimmesdale deny having seen the strange phenomenon
in the sky? What is Dimmesdale’s reaction to seeing Chillingworth from the
scaffold?
9. Why is Dimmesdale unwilling to admit his guilt publicly? Who suffers most from
his silence?
Chapters 13 and 14
1. Seven years after the birth of Pearl, what does Hester spend time doing in the
community? In what ways has Hester’s physical appearance changed?
2. What is the community’s general opinion of Hester? What is the reason for this
change in public opinion? Why have Hester’s appearance and her outlook on life
changed?
3. What observations does Hester make about Dimmesdale’s condition on the night
of his vigil?
4. According to Hester, who or what has caused Dimmesdale’s deteriorated
condition? What does she think she needs to do to correct the situation?
5. What does Hester notice about the changes in Chillingworth’s physical
appearance?
6. What does Hester believe has happened to Chillingworth’s personality? Into what
does Hester believe Chillingworth has been transformed?
7. According to Chillingworth and Hester, what kind of man was Chillingworth in the
past?
8. What does Chillingworth say in defense of his actions? Why, according to him, is
he powerless in controlling his actions against Dimmesdale? Why doesn’t he feel
a need to seek revenge against Hester?
9. Of the three main characters—Hester Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth—who has
been most willing to take responsibility for his or her actions?
10. What price for their sins have Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth paid?
Chapters 15 and 16
1. What memory does Hester recall as she leaves Chillinworth to gather his herbs
at the beginning of Chapter 15?
2. Why does Hester believe that her husband betrayed her? Why does she believe
that he is in part responsible for the events of the last seven years?
3. When Pearl asks the question “What does the scarlet letter mean?” what is
Hester’s final response? What is she tempted to tell Pearl?
4. Why is Hester tempted to confide in Pearl? Why does she feel uncomfortable
with the answer that she finally gives Pearl?
5. As Hester and Pearl walk through the woods, what does Pearl want to know
about the Black Man? What does Hester say when Pearl asks her if she has ever
met the Black Man?
6. Why does the story of the Black Man and his mark have a personal meaning for
Hester and Pearl?
7. When Hester meets Reverend Dimmesdale in the forest, what is she hoping to
tell him?
8. When Dimmesdale appears, what do both Hester and Pearl notice about his
hand, and what significance does this gesture have for the three of them?
Chapters 17 and 18
1. About what do Hester and Dimmesdale first talk?
2. Why might the conversation between Dimmesdale and Hester at first be
strained?
3. What does Dimmesdale say about Hester’s scarlet letter? What does he believe
might have saved him from the motional anguish that he has been experiencing?
4. Why does Dimmesdale believe that his experience since the birth of Pearl has
been in a way more torturous than Hester’s experience?
5. What does Hester tell Dimmesdale about Chillingworth?
6. According to Dimmesdale, why is Chillingworth’s sin is blacker than his and
Hester’s?
7. What kind of life does Hester decide she wants for herself, for Dimmesdale, and
for Pearl? Does Dimmesdale agree with her? What about Pearl worries
Dimmesdale?
8. Why, alone in the forest, is it easy for Hester and Dimmesdale to renew their love
and decide to escape from their trouble? Why might Pearl be uncomfortable with
Dimmesdale?
Chapters 19 and 20
1. Why does Pearl at first refuse to cross the brook and go to her mother? What
does she force her mother to do?
2. What is the significance of Pearl’s demand? Do you think that Pearl fully
understands the importance of this action, or, as Hester says, that she is simply
acting like any young child who will not abide any change in her routine?
3. When Hester tells Pearl that Dimmesdale loves her, what two questions does
Pearl ask? What does Pearl do when Dimmesdale kisses her?
4. Why might Pearl be willing to kiss her mother but not Dimmesdale? Why might
Pearl be unwilling to accept Dimmesdale as someone who loves her?
5. How will Hester, Dimmesdale, and Pearl leave Boston? Where will they go?
What will Dimmesdale be doing for the community right before they leave?
6. How is Dimmesdale feeling as he returns to town after making travel plans with
Hester? Why might Dimmesdale be experiencing strange and corrupt impulses?
7. What does Dimmesdale suspect that Chillingworth knows? Is he correct in his
suspicion?
8. How does Dimmesdale feel when he sees Chillingworth again? What two
meaning can be given to Dimmesdale’s assertion that he will soon be gone to
another world?
Chapters 21 and 22
1. What is Hester’s mood as she and Pearl arrive to celebrate Election Day? What
instructions does she give pearl for the time when Dimmesdale arrives?
2. What is the reason for Hester’s mood as she arrives to celebrate Election Day?
What does Pearl observe about Dimmesdale?
3. What news does the commander of the vessel give to Hester?
4. How does the commander’s news affect Hester? What might Chillingworth’s
smile from across the public square mean?
5. When the Election Day procession begins, what does Hester expect from
Dimmesdale as he walks by her? What does Pearl ask her mother about
Dimmesdale?
6. How does Hester feel as Dimmesdale walks by her? Why does Pearl not
recognize Dimmesdale?
7. What does Hester hear in Dimmesdale’s speech? What does the captain of the
ship tell Pearl?
8. What are Hester’s feelings as she stands in the crowd listening to Dimmesdale
and thinking about her plans? What happens to her spirits?
9. What events on Election Day shake Hester’s confidence in the future that she
and Dimmesdale have planned? In what way has she lost control of the
situation?
10. What acknowledgment does Pearl want Dimmesdale to make and before whom?
What would be the practical consequences if Dimmesdale did such a thing?
What would be the spiritual or moral consequences?
Chapters 23 and 24
1. What is the public’s opinion of Dimmesdale after he gives his Election Day
sermon?
2. What injustice is there in the crowd’s reaction to Dimmesdale, given that Hester
stands as an outcast by the scaffold, marked with the scarlet A?
3. What does Dimmesdale reveal to the crowd? What happens to him soon after his
revelation? What does he ask of God?
4. Why does Dimmesdale fear that he and Hester will not spend eternity together?
Why does Pearl finally kiss Dimmesdale? What has he at last proved to her?
5. What does Chillingworth say to Dimmesdale as the minister stands at the
scaffold and calls for Hester and Pearl?
6. What has been Chillingworth’s purpose in life since he first spoke with Hester in
her jail cell? Why does Chillingworth so strongly oppose Dimmesdale’s decision?
What destroys Chillingworth in the end?
7. What becomes of Hester? In what way does she eventually render service to her
community?
8. Why does Hester continue to wear the scarlet letter? What does it mean to her?
What does it mean to the community?