English 11 Academic
Scarlet Letter Study Questions - Chapters 21-22
CHAPTER 21
1. This chapter is mostly about
(a) a public holiday
(b) Hester’s dreams of the future
(c) Pearl’s behavior
(d) the rowdiness of the sailors
2. The crowd has gathered to see a procession of
(a) Native American captives
(b) captured pirates
(c) the Governor and other dignitaries
(d) jugglers and clowns
3. Men from the forest settlements wear
(a) coarse gray cloth
(b) deerskin clothing
(c) embroidered coats
(d) black coats and pointed hats
4. The ship that is in port will sail for
(a) the Spanish Main
(b) Bristol
(c) New York
(d) Plymouth
5. These jolly sailors have not long before
(a) attempted mutiny
(b) committed acts of piracy
(c) battled with Native Americans
(d) lived respectable lives in England
6. An ordinary citizen who smoked tobacco in public would be
(a) preached against on Sunday
(b) put in the stocks
(c) fined a shilling
(d) made to stand on the scaffold
7. The news Hester learns from the ship’s captain tells her that
(a) Dimmesdale has changed his mind
(b) Chillingworth has guessed the minister’s and her plans
(c) Chillingworth wants her to live with him again
(d) Chillingworth has forgiven Dimmesdale
Thinking it over
How do you suppose Chillingworth is able to guess the plan that Hester and the minister have formed? Did he have
any warning that Hester and Dimmesdale would meet? Can he guess where they met? What might the minister’s
behavior tell him?
CHAPTER 22
1. In the procession, Dimmesdale seems unusually
(a) sad
(b) feeble
(c) energetic
(d) ill at ease
2. In Puritan days, a minister was
(a) taken for granted
(b) highly respected
(c) less honored than a politician
(d) a rare sight
3. Mistress Hibbins tells Hester that she knows
(a) Hester and the Minister met in the forest
(b) Hester and the Minister plan to run away
(c) Chillingworth is Hester’s husband
(d) why Dimmesdale holds his hand over is heart
4. During Dimmesdale’s sermon, Hestor
(a) walks in the marketplace with Pearl
(b) stands in the back of the church
(c) remains near the scaffold
(d) walks in the graveyard
5. The shipmaster gives Pearl
she tells Pearl that she has met the Black Man once?
(a) a kiss
(b) a silk scarf
(c) a pearl necklace
(d) a gold chain
6. The Native Americans in the crowd staring at Hester
(a) plan to kidnap her
(b) know the meaning of the scarlet letter
(c) misunderstand the meaning of the scarlet letter
(d) sympathize with Hester
Thinking it over
The last sentence of the chapter suggests that both Dimmesdale and Hester share “the same scorching brand of
shame.” What do you think this means?