The Scarlet Letter
I. Reading Journal Assignment
As you read, you must complete a journal entry for 20 of the 24 chapters in The Scarlet Letter.
Each journal entry must provide an analytic overview of one chapter. Each overview should
combine the following:
Reading Observations
Setting
Significant Events, especially plot shifts
Characterization and character development (inc. moral/spiritual development)
Conflict introduction and development
Key motifs and images (address both literal and figurative purposes)
Narratorial tone
Mysteries and unanswered questions
Discussion Question Responses
You are required to answer any questions in boldface print. You may answer as many of
the other questions as you wish. It is, of course, better to err on the side of answering
fewer questions more thoughtfully rather than answer more questions superficially.
14 of the 20 journal entries will be due on Wednesday, December 21 for a completion check.
The entire journal will be due on Wednesday, January 4.
II. Group Presentation Assignment
Working in groups as assigned, plan and present a critical overview of one section of The Scarlet
Letter. In order to help the class follow your presentation, you should use some kind of visual
aid—this can take the form of a handout, a powerpoint presentation, or notes written on the
chalkboard before class. Presentations will occur after the class has finished reading and
discussing each section of the novel; therefore, presentations should focus on reinforcement
rather than introduction of new material. Presentations should include the following elements:
1) Summary: Quickly review the setting of the section and its significance, as well as the basic
order of events, making special note of conflict development and plot shifts.
2) Character Analysis: Review the ways in which this chapter develops our knowledge of
individual characters and expands their role within the story. Remember to pay close attention
not only to inter/intrapersonal development, but to moral and spiritual development, as well.
3) Key motifs and images: Review any items that are given special significance, either through
repetition or narrative emphasis of some kind. If your section further develops a motif from
another section, be sure to avoid mere repetition of someone else’s presentation.
4) Narratorial tone: Offer an interpretation of the narrator’s tone toward the people, events, and
objects you have already addressed. Use specific textual material to illustrate your
interpretation.
5) Close Reading Exercise: Select a sentence from the text that is particularly illustrative of a
key motif, tone, or situation in your section of the novel. Discuss both the content and the
structure of this sentence as they relate to the larger issues in this section of the novel.
The Scarlet Letter
Study Guide
Chapter 1
1. What types of imagery are used to introduce the Puritan townsfolk in “The Prison Door”?
What is the effect of this imagery and how does the narrator further this portrayal in “The
Market Place”?
2. What is the significance (symbolic, thematic, or otherwise) of the rosebush outside the
prison door?
Chapter 2
3. What traits characterize the women of Salem? How might their collective demeanor be a
product of Puritan society? What is the artistic function of the “young wife” within the
group?
4. What is Hester’s first action in the novel and what does it reveal about her character?
Describe her demeanor as she emerges from the prison.
5. According to the narrator, what is the greatest “outrage…against our common
nature”? Do you agree? How might this opinion on the part of the narrator shape
the telling of this story?
6. While she is on the scaffold, Hester’s memory runs through a brief summary of her past.
What significant events are referred to, however vaguely?
Chapter 3
7. Describe the stranger standing next to the Indian during Hester’s punishment. What
signal passes between him and Hester? What emotional affect does his presence have on
Hester?
8. Why does the stranger call Hester’s punishment “a wise sentence”?
9. Describe Reverend Dimmesdale. What are his most significant physical features and
what do they suggest about his personality and even his soul?
10. What argument does Dimmesdale use to try convince Hester to name her “fellowsinner”? How does Hester respond? How does her child respond?
11. Why does Hester say the scarlet letter can never be removed from her breast?
12. How does the sermon delivered by John Wilson begin to expand the symbolic significance
of the scarlet letter? How does town gossip and superstition do the same?
Chapter 4
13. What does Chillingworth mean when he says to Hester, “We have wronged each
other”?
14. Why does Chillingworth ask Hester to keep his identity a secret? Why is this ironic in light
of his profession?
Chapter 5
15. How does Hester’s life change once her public humiliation is over?
16. The narrator gives two reasons for Hester’s refusal to leave New England, one that is
authentic and one that Hester fabricates as a “self-delusion.” Explain each one and
what it reveals about Hester’s character.
17. Where does Hester live after her leaving the prison? What is significant about this
location?
18. How does Hester support herself and Pearl? What does her profession reveal about Puritan
society? What is the one job she is never asked to do and why?
19. Apart from wearing the scarlet letter, in what specific ways is Hester isolated from the
townspeople? How is she made to suffer by this?
20. What new and special power does the scarlet letter seem to give Hester? What is
Hester’s reaction to this newfound ability?
Chapter 6
21. Why does Hester name her child Pearl? Why does she worry about Pearl’s character?
22. How does the narrator account for Pearl’s wild and untamed character?
23. What success does Hester have in controlling Pearl? How does Pearl interact with the other
children in the village? What rumor circulates about Pearl’s paternity?
24. What purpose might the mother-daughter conflict play in the novel?
Chapter 7
25. For what two purposes does Hester go to Governor Bellingham’s mansion?
26. Describe Pearl’s dress and comment on its significance.
27. Describe the construction and furnishing of Governor Bellingham’s mansion. What
does it reveal about Puritan culture?
28. What possible symbolic meanings are associated with sunshine and the suit of armor in
Chapter 7?
Chapter 8
29. What reason does the Governor give for taking Pearl from her mother? How does he
“examine” Pearl and for what purpose? How do Pearl’s responses strengthen the
elders’ biases against her and Hester?
30. What reason does Hester give for her need to keep Pearl? Who supports her plea and
why?
31. How does Pearl behave towards Dimmesdale in the garden?
32. What is the purpose of the interaction between Hester and Mistress Hibbins at the end of
Chapter 8?
Chapter 9
33. How does Chillingworth make a place for himself in Boston society? Why are we as
readers suspicious of his professional and social motivations? Why does this
suspicion seem to be absent from the narrator’s tone?
34. How do Dimmesdale and the people of the town take differing views towards his failing
health?
35. How does Chillingworth come to be Dimmesdale’s personal physician? What do the two
men have in common as a basis for friendship? Whose idea is it that they should live
together?
36. What biblical stories are portrayed in the decorations of Dimmesdale’s room? What
themes or issues are suggested by these stories?
37. What two conflicting ideas did the townspeople hold about Chillingworth?
Chapter 10
38. How has Chillingworth changed since Hester first knew him? How does the narrator use
imagery or description to reveal the nature of Chillingworth’s metamorphosis? What is the
cause of this change?
39. What does Chillingworth suggest is the cause of Dimmesdale’s “illness”?
40. Summarize the disagreement between Chillingworth and Dimmesdale over the
confession of sin. What are the points of view offered by each man? Why does
Dimmesdale leave the room? What is the larger significance of this conversation?
41. What misbehavior does Pearl indulge in below Dimmesdale’s window? How does this scene
suggest a link between the child and the minister?
42. What important discovery does Chillingworth make while Dimmesdale is sleeping?
How does the narrator describe Chillingworth’s joy and why is this description
meaningful?
Chapter 11
43. How and why does Chillingworth change his purpose in light of his discovery?
44. How does Dimmesdale’s suffering affect his work as a clergyman? What is the
public reaction when Dimmesdale “confesses” his sinfulness from the pulpit?
Describe and analyze the narrator’s tone toward Dimmesdale as he describes this
confession.
45. Through what practices does Dimmesdale seek penance for his sins? What is the narrator’s
tone toward Dimmesdale as he relates these practices?
Chapter 12
46. Why does Dimmesdale go to stand on the scaffold?
47. Which two people come to their window when Dimmesdale shrieks? What symbolism
might be involved in the author’s choice of these two character?
48. Why are Rev. Wilson and, later, Hester and Pearl out at night? Why does Rev. Wilson miss
seeing Dimmesdale?
49. What question does Pearl ask Dimmesdale? What is his answer? Why is this
interaction significant?
50. What “sign” appears in the sky? How is it described? What two interpretations are
offered by which characters?
51. What is Chillingworth’s reaction to finding Dimmesdale on the scaffold?
52. How does his experience on the scaffold affect Dimmesdale’s sermon the next day? How
does the Sexton interpret his discovery of Dimmesdale’s black glove on the scaffold?
Chapter 13
53. How has Hester’s position in the community changed? How is this linked to any
change in the townspeople’s perception of the scarlet letter’s symbolism? Explain
the narrator’s comment that “the scarlet letter had not done its office.”
54. Describe the changes in Hester’s appearance and temperament that have come as a
result of wearing the scarlet letter. Include an explanation of how her view on
womanhood has changed.
55. What stimulus gives Hester the courage to confront Chillingworth, to act on Dimmesdale’s
behalf?
Chapter 14
56. During his conversation with Hester, what opinion of Dimmesdale’s character does
Chillingworth offer? Why does he refuse to leave him alone? Why does he insist that
Dimmesdale has “increased the debt”?
Chapter 15
57. Why does Hester feel Chillingworth “has done me worse wrong than I did him”?
58. What object does Pearl make for herself out of grasses and seaweeds? How is this object
given symbolic significance by its differences from the original?
59. Explain Hester’s statement, “If this be the price of the child’s sympathy, I cannot
pay it.” Later, in chapter 16, what does the narrator say Pearl needs in order to
“make her capable of sympathy”?
Chapter 16
60. Why hasn’t Hester ever visited Dimmesdale in his study? What does Hester’s
desired meeting place suggest about the nature of their relationship?
61. According to Pearl, why does the sunshine “love” her and not Hester? Why is Pearl’s
observation significant?
62. How is the brook described? What possible symbolic meanings could be associated with it?
63. What questions does Pearl repeat throughout chapters 15 and 16? What do these
questions suggest about Pearl and about her relationship with her mother?
Chapter 17
64. How is Dimmesdale described as he comes walking through the forest? How does his
manner change once he realizes he is not alone?
65. Describe Hester and Dimmesdale’s meeting. How would you describe their interaction?
What important question does Dimmesdale ask Hester?
66. How do Dimmesdale and Hester disagree over the quality of Dimmesdale’s pastoral work
and its effect on Dimmesdale’s life? How do they view repentance and redemption
differently?
67. Why does Hester reveal the truth of Chillingworth’s identity? How does
Dimmesdale react? What is your reaction to his reaction?
68. As Hester and Dimmesdale discuss “what to do” to escape Chillingworth, what does their
conversation reveal about the nature of their relationship? How is each character strong or
weak? In what way does each need the other?
Chapter 18
69. In the second paragraph of chapter 18, the narrator uses the phrase “a moral
wilderness.” What is this intended to describe? What differing views would the Puritan
society and the narrator take regarding this “wilderness”? In what sense are Hester and
Dimmesdale caught in between these two views?
70. How does “Nature” react when Hester removes the Scarlet Letter? What is the
significance of this in light of Pearl’s statement in chapter 16 that “the sunshine does
not love” Hester? What thematic message is solidified in this moment? (You might
consider the statement in this same paragraph that “Love…must always create a
sunshine.”)
Chapter 19
71. Why is Pearl unable to share her mother’s joy over the Scarlet Letter’s removal? Why
does she insist that Hester put the Scarlet Letter on again? Why does she reject
Dimmesdale’s kiss?
Chapter 20
72. What is meant by the phrase “duplicity of impression”? How does this phrase apply to Dimmesdale’s own
self-perception, and how does the narrator suggest that this duplicity might be a tragic flaw?
73. What four temptations does Dimmesdale face on his way home? What does
Dimmesdale assume is the source of these temptations? What alternate explanation
does the narrator offer? What further explanations for Dimmesdale’s “temptation”
might be apparent to a modern reader?
74. What does Mistress Hibbins perceive when she meets Dimmesdale? When
contrasted against Hester’s meeting with Mistress Hibbins at the end of chapter 8,
how does Dimmesdale’s response to her further our understanding of the contrast
between the two lovers?
75. Why does Dimmesdale rewrite his Election Sermon?
Chapter 21
76. To what degree and for what reason is Hester isolated from Puritan community during the
Holiday? How does Pearl act as a foil to Hester’s condition in this scene? According
to the narrator, how is this apparent contrast the result of an underlying connection between
mother and daughter?
77. How do the sailors present at this celebration illustrate the “incomplete morality of the age”?
78. What bad news does Hester receive from the ship’s captain? How might this news
suggest an impending tragedy to the reader?
Chapter 22
79. What Puritan values are revealed by the procession that parades toward the church? What
makes someone admirable in this culture?
80. How has Dimmesdale’s appearance changed? In what way does he appear separate
from the crowd and how does this affect Hester? How does this also foreshadow a
possible tragedy?
81. What forbidden question does Pearl ask when she sees Dimmesdale? What important
symbolic contrast is highlighted by Hester’s response?
82. Why does Mistress Hibbins reproach Hester with “fie, woman, fie!”?
Chapter 23
83. How does Hawthorne further develop the symbolic importance of the scaffold
during Dimmesdale’s sermon?
84. What did Dimmesdale’s sermon foretell for the Puritan people? How do the people react to
this message? How does the narrator draw further attention to the growing separation
between Hester and Dimmesdale?
85. Describe and analyze the significance of each of the main characters’ reactions to
Dimmesdale’s confession. How is each one changed by his confession?
86. What are Dimmesdale’s last words? Is there anything significant about these words
or the situation in which they are spoken?
Chapter 24
87. Summarize the concluding chapter in terms of character development and final
thoughts offered by the narrator.