AP Language Summer Reading: The Scarlet Letter Study Questions
You do not need to read the introductory section called “The Custom House.” We will discuss the
purpose of this section when school begins. You should begin reading with the first chapter called “The
Prison Door.”
These study questions are to ensure that you understand the plot of the novel; they are not required
work.
Background information on Nathaniel Hawthorne
Born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1804
Wrote both to enlighten and entertain his readers by using an allegorical style, which employs
characters and plot to achieve a unified effect and illustrate a moral lesson
Centered the majority of his writing on the early 1600s, during the time of the Puritan settlers
Background information on The Scarlet Letter
Published in 1840, the novel has become one of the most widely read works of American
literature
Set during the 1640s in Boston, a somber, gray, moralistic community was founded as a kind of
Puritan theocracy and utopia
Illustrates the themes of the virtue of truth and the evil of hidden sin
Study Questions
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Where is Hester Prynne when we first see her?
What stands out about Hester’s clothing?
Who is with Hester?
While standing on the scaffold, who does Hester notice on the outskirts of the crowd?
Why are the Reverend John Wilson and Governor Bellingham there?
What does the Reverend Dimmesdale ask publicly of Hester?
Does Hester comply with his request?
What occurs to Hester and her child back in the prison?
Who is sent to help her?
What request does Chillingworth make of Hester?
Where does Hester choose to live at the end of her imprisonment?
How does Hester support herself and her child?
What does Hester name her daughter? Why?
How does Hester dress her daughter?
Why does Hester go to Governor Bellingham’s mansion?
What request does the Governor make of the reverend Wilson while Hester is there?
How does Pearl respond to reverend Wilson’s questions?
Who defends Hester’s right to keep Pearl?
Who approaches Hester upon her departure from the Governor’s mansion?
What is Hester’s response to this person’s question?
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What is the relationship between Mistress Hibbons and Governor Bellingham?
How is Chillingworth employed within the town?
What is Chillngworth’s relationship to Dimmesdale?
Why is Chillingworth so interested in Dimmesdale?
What begins to torture Dimmesdale the most?
What does Dimmesdale inflict upon himself and why?
Where does Dimmesdale find himself one evening after one of his long vigils?
Who has just died?
Who finds Dimmesdale on the scaffold?
What happens when Dimmesdale asks Hester the true identity of Chillingworth?
What appears in the sky the evening of the Governor’s death? How does Dimmesdale react to
this?
What has occurred over the past seven years to change the attitude of the townspeople toward
Hester?
What does Chillingworth say to Hester’s request that she be allowed to reveal his true identity
to Dimmesdale?
Where do Hester and Dimmesdale meet? How does he react to the information Hester finally
gives him?
What plans do the two make?
How does Pearl react to seeing her mother without her cap and without the scarlet letter?
When do Hester and Dimmesdale plan to leave?
What information does Hester learn from the captain of the Bristol ship?
How does Hester feel as Dimmesdale passes by her in the Election Day procession?
What comment does Pearl make about Dimmesdale?
What commend does Mistress Hibbons make to Hester?
What surprising action does Dimmesdale make about his sermon?
How does Chillngworth feel upon seeing Dimmesdale with Hester and Pearl on the scaffold?
What does Dimmesdale reveal to the townspeople?
How does Pearl react to his actions?
What happens to Dimmesdale?
What happens to Chillingworth within the next year?
What becomes of Pearl and Hester?
To where does Hester return in later life? Why?
Where was Hester buried upon her death? What is her epitaph?