VI. Pearl Quiz — The Scarlet Letter

Why does Hester name her daughter Pearl?

• Because the child has a pale, lustrous complexion
• Because Pearl is her only treasure, purchased with all she had
• Because pearls were a symbol of purity in Puritan culture
• Because a pearl was found in the child's cradle at birth

What is the very first object Pearl notices as an infant?

• Her mother's face
• A ray of sunlight through the window
• The scarlet letter on Hester's bosom
• A wildflower in the garden

How does Pearl respond when Puritan children gather around her?

• She hides behind Hester in silence
• She attempts to join their games
• She snatches up stones and flings them with shrill exclamations
• She bursts into tears and begs to go home

Pearl creates imaginary friends from sticks, rags, and flowers during her solitary play.

What does Pearl do with the wildflowers she gathers one summer afternoon?

• She arranges them around the cottage door
• She weaves them into a crown for her hair
• She flings them one by one at the scarlet letter on Hester's bosom
• She offers them to the Puritan children as a peace gesture

What does Pearl declare when Hester tells her that her Heavenly Father sent her?

• Yes, and He loves me very much!
• He did not send me! I have no Heavenly Father!
• Then why does He let them hate us?
• Tell me His name, mother!

Hawthorne describes the Puritan children playing at scourging Quakers and taking scalps in sham fights with Indians.

In the sentence "The child could not be made amenable to rules," what does "amenable" mean?

• Hostile or resistant
• Open and responsive; easily persuaded or controlled
• Indifferent or apathetic
• Physically capable of following

To what natural phenomenon does Hawthorne compare Pearl's imaginative play?

• A summer thunderstorm
• The tides of the ocean
• The phantasmagoric play of the northern lights
• The changing seasons of New England

Hester sometimes sees a fiend-like face reflected in Pearl's dark eyes when looking at her own image in them.

What does "preternatural" mean in the phrase "a state of preternatural activity"?

• Normal and expected for a child
• Sluggish and abnormally slow
• Beyond what is normal or natural; suggesting the supernatural
• Carefully planned and deliberate

What classical myth does Hawthorne allude to when describing Pearl's imaginary battles?

• The Trojan War and Achilles
• Cadmus sowing dragon's teeth that sprout into armed warriors
• Odysseus battling the Cyclops
• Perseus slaying Medusa

When is the only time Hester feels truly safe and at peace with Pearl?

• When Pearl is playing quietly with her imaginary companions
• When Pearl is dressed in her finest clothes for public outings
• When Pearl lies asleep
• When Pearl shows brief moments of affection

The Puritan townspeople suggest that Pearl may be a demon offspring, similar to accusations once made about Martin Luther.