The Scarlet Letter - Mrs Ma's English SMIC
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Transcript The Scarlet Letter - Mrs Ma's English SMIC
The Scarlet Letter
Discussion Questions
Chapter 5
What is the symbolism of where
Hester chooses to live?
How does the letter A change
meanings slightly in this chapter?
What special power did Hester think
the A gave her?
Chapter 6 - 7
From where did Pearl get her name?
What makes the village think Pearl is
a demon child?
What grabs Hester’s attention as she
stands in the hall of the mansion?
What does this signify?
How is Pearl dressed? Significance?
What 2 things does Pearl ask of
Hester?
Chapter 8
How does Pearl respond when
interrogated by Reverend Wilson?
How does Arthur come to Hester’s aid
in keeping her child?
What symbolism do you see in the
scenes of the mansion and the
conversations?
Chapter 9
Describe Arthur’s and Roger’s
relationship.
What has happened to Arthur’s
health?
What did the townspeople feel about
Roger?
What tapestries are hanging in
Arthur’s room?
Chapter 10- 11
Where does Pearl play? What is her
attitude toward her mother’s A?
Describe how Roger’s appearance has
changed in these past three years.
What plants has Roger gathered?
Symbolism?
How does Arthur try to do penance?
What is Roger looking for when he sneaks
into Arthur’s room? What do you think he
sees?
Symbols used in the book:
Conventional:
Scaffolding
Gold
Colors – red, black,
gray
Darkness/light
vegetation
Rosebush
Night/day
forest
Non-clichéd:
Letter A
Trees
Thresholds/doors
Water/brook in
forest
Windows/mirrors
Steps/levels
Triads
Moon/sun
Drapery/curtains
Reflections
Characters as symbols:
Hester
Arthur
Roger
Pearl
Chapter 12
Where does Dimmesdale observe his
vigil?
What item of Dimmesdale’s does the
sexton find?
What is the sexton’s explanation of
how it came to be there?
Chapter 13
How does the symbolism of the A
change throughout this chapter?
How is Hester’s appearance
described?
What does Hester resolve to do?
What is her intention in doing this?
What is the significance of the
statement, “the scarlet letter had not
done its office.”?
WARNING!!! Spoiler Alert!
Further chapter discussion questions
may spoil the novel’s plot.
Read ahead of assigned chapters at
your own risk!
Chapter 14
If the town leaders have debated whether
Hester may remove the A or not, why does
she refuse to remove it?
How has Roger been transformed in the
past few years? Does Roger sense this
change?
Does Hester admit the father of her baby
in this chapter?
What is Hester’s goal in this conversation?
What does Roger mean when he says
“germ of Evil” and “Let the black flower
blossom as it may.”?
Chapter 15
As Roger walks away from her, what does
Hester imagine about him?
What does she mean when she says, “he
has done me worse than I did him!”?
What activity has Pearl been engaged in as
Hester and Roger talked?
Is there any redeeming quality seen in
Pearl in this chapter? (yes, what is it?)
What does Pearl make for herself? What
color is it? What does this symbolize?
What lie does Hester tell Pearl? Why might
she say this?
Chapter 16
Where does Hester plan to meet
Dimmesdale? Symbolism?
What symbolism is seen in how the
sunshine treats Hester in this
chapter?
What story has Pearl been told by
some of the towns people?
What did Pearl ask About
Dimmesdale’s mark of the black man?
Chapter 17
What is the 1st thing Dimmesdale notices
about Hester?
What is the significance of Dimmesdale's
question to Hester, “has thou found peace?”
What is Dimmesdale's reaction to Hester’s
news? What does this reveal about him?
How do Dimmesdale and Hester seek
justification for their sin?
Where does Dimmesdale turn to for
strength? (where should he turn?)
What did Hester advice Dimmesdale to do?
Chapter 18
What does It mean that “she had
wandered, without rule or guidance, in a
moral wilderness.”?
What has Dimmesdale resolved to do?
What does Hester do with the scarlet letter?
What does this signify?
In the meantime, what has Pearl be doing
in the forest?
Why is Dimmesdale so hesitant about
getting to know Pearl?
The sunshine pours over Dimmesdale
and Hester – do they find pardon in the
forest?
Chapter 19
How has Hester's appearance changed as
she’s been in the forest?
What divides Pearl from Hester and
Dimmesdale?
Why is it ironic that a child condemns them?
Symbolism?
Hat bothers Pearl about her mother’s
appearance?
Why is it necessary for Hester to retrieve the
letter herself? Why could Pearl not pick it
up?
How does Pearl respond to Dimmesdale?
Chapter 20
** significance of quotation – “No man for any
considerable period can wear one face to himself and
another to the multitude, without finally getting
bewildered as to which may be the true.”
Where had Hester and Dimmesdale decide to go ?
Why?
What great change took place in Dimmesdale?
Describe Dimmesdale's interview wit the old deacon,
the elderly lady, and the young girl.
Describe Dimmesdale's encounter with Mistress
Hibbins.
What does Chillingworth suspect about Dimmesdale?
Chapter 21
What holiday are the people celebrating?
How is Hester described? Location, etc.
What observation does Pearl make about
Dimmesdale?
What does the captain of the ship reveal to
Hester/ ? What does this say about her
plans? How have they been foiled?
Chapter 22
What change is seen in Dimmesdale
as he walks in the procession to the
church?
What does Pearl ask her mother
about the minister?
What does Mistress Hibbins say
regarding Hester and Dimmesdale?
What is the message given to Pearl
by the shipmaster?
Chapter 23
How do the people respond to the
minister’s sermon?
Where do they think he would soon
be going? In actuality, where does he
go after his sermon?
Describe Dimmesdale’s revelation to
the people.
Why would Roger attempt to stop
Dimmesdale's revelation?
Chapter 23 (con’t.)
What do the following quotations mean?
Who says them?
“hadst thou sought the whole earth over…there
was no one place so secret – no high place nor
lowly where thou couldst have escaped me –
save on this very scaffold.”
“is not this better…than what we dreamed of in
the forest?”
Why is it significant that sunshine finally
breaks over Dimmesdale as he is on the
scaffold?
What gift does Dimmesdale give Pearl at
the end?
Chapter 24
What were the various theories about
Dimmesdale's scarlet letter?
What sentence is suggested as the moral
for Dimmesdale's story?
What happened to Chillingworth?
What did Pearl inherit? What probably
happened to Pearl?
Describe Hester at the end of the novel.
Why does she return to Salem?
What is the final end of Hester and
Dimmesdale?