| Certain it is, that, some fifteen or twenty years after the settlement of the town, the wooden jail was already marked with weather-stains and other indications of age, which gave a yet darker aspect to its beetle-browed and gloomy front. The rust on the ponderous iron-work of its oaken door looked more antique than any thing else in the new world.The author most likely include the words “darker aspect,” “beetle-browed,” “gloomy,” and “ponderous” in order to | impart a melancholy mood. |
| Which event described in chapter 2 of The Scarlet Letter occurs after the women of the crowd are introduced? | The women discuss Hester’s sentence. |
| The door of the jail being flung open from within, there appeared, in the first place, like a black shadow emerging into sunshine, the grim and grisly presence of the town-beadle, with a sword by his side and his staff of office in his hand.Which best describes the purpose of the words “black shadow,” “grim,” grisly,” and “sword”? | to impart a solemn mood |
| “Goodwives,” said a hard-featured dame of fifty, “I’ll tell ye a piece of my mind. It would be greatly for the public behoof, if we women, being of mature age and church-members in good repute, should have the handling of such malefactresses as this Hester Prynne. What think ye, gossips? If the hussy stood up for judgment before us five, that are now here in a knot together, would she come off with such a sentence as the worshipful magistrates have awarded?”What is the meaning of this excerpt? | The speaker believes that she and her peers ought to be in charge of assigning sentences in cases like Hester’s. |
| Which event described in chapter 1 of The Scarlet Letter takes place as the story begins | a crowd gathers at a jail |
| Which event described in chapter 2 of The Scarlet Letter occurs when Hester arrives at the marketplace? | Hester climbs the stairs and stands on the scaffolding. |
| “This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die. Is there not law for it? Truly there is, both in the Scripture and the statute-book. Then let the magistrates, who have made it of no effect, thank themselves if their own wives and daughters go astray!”What part of the plot does this excerpt reveal? | It is part of the rising action that reveals public sentiment toward Hester |
| The romantic character of the place delighted me; I was very much amused by the air of adventure and intrigue that prevailed in this region of masks and gondolas; and I was exceedingly smitten by a pair of languishing black eyes, that played upon my heart from under an Italian mantle. So I persuaded myself that I was lingering at Venice to study men and manners. At least I persuaded my friends so, and that answered all my purpose.What statement best describes the narrator in this excerpt? | The narrator is not entirely truthful about his reasons for staying in Venice. |
| Which event described in chapter 2 of The Scarlet Letter occurs after Hester leaves the jail? | NOT A military procession organizes the crowd and proceeds to the scaffold. |
| Lastly, in lieu of these shifting scenes, came back the rude market-place of the Puritan settlement, with all the townspeople assembled and levelling their stern regards at Hester Prynne,—yes, at herself,—who stood on the scaffold of the pillory, an infant on her arm, and the letter A, in scarlet, fantastically embroidered with gold thread, upon her bosom!What is the effect of the underlined words in this excerpt? | NOT They provide a visual image of the violent setting. |
The Scarlet Letter, Part 1
April 16, 2020