The Scarlet Letter Answers

Which event described in chapter 2 of The Scarlet Letter occurs after Hester appears in front of the crowd?

Read this excerpt from chapter 2 of The Scarlet Letter.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?

Read this excerpt from chapter 1 of The Scarlet Letter using comprehension strategies.In accordance with this rule, it may safely be assumed that the forefathers of Boston had built the first prison-house, somewhere in the vicinity of Cornhill, almost as seasonably as they marked out the first burial-ground, on Isaac Johnson's lot, and round about his grave, which subsequently became the nucleus of all the congregated sepulchres in the old church-yard of King's Chapel.What is the meaning of this excerpt?

Read this excerpt from chapter 2 of The Scarlet Letter.Meagre, indeed, and cold, was the sympathy that a transgressor might look for, from such bystanders at the scaffold. On the other hand, a penalty which, in our days, would infer a degree of mocking infamy and ridicule, might then be invested with almost as stern a dignity as the punishment of death itself.Which best describes the purpose of the words “meagre,” “scaffold,” “stern,” and “punishment of death”?

Which event described in chapter 2 of The Scarlet Letter occurs after Hester leaves the jail?

Which event described in chapter 1 of The Scarlet Letter involves the narrator?

Which event described in chapter 1 of The Scarlet Letter takes place as the story begins?

Read this excerpt from chapter 2 of The Scarlet Letter using comprehension strategies.“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?

Read this excerpt from chapter 2 of The Scarlet Letter.“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?