Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4, 1804, a descendant of John Hathorne, a judge. What was John's claim to fame?
2. The narrator of this novel, Miles Coverdale, shares the same name as a Bible translator.
3. What is the name of the idealist in Hawthorne's "House of Seven Gables," who eventually learns to temper his optimism?
4. In "The Blithedale Romance," the narrator visits a utopian farm, where he meets a haughty, seductive woman. What is her name?
5. What Hawthorne philanthropist "taught his benevolence to pour its warm tide exclusively through one channel; so that there was nothing to spare for other great manifestations of love to man, nor scarcely for the nutriment of individual attachments, unless they could minister, in some way, to the terrible egotism which he mistook for an angel of God."?
6. What Hawthorne novel begins, "The founders of a colony, whatever utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison."
7. In Seattle, Washington, there is a bookstore called "Twice Sold Tales." This name is inspired by a collection of short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Indeed, there is only a single letter's difference between the name of the collection and the name of the store. What is the name of that story collection?
8. Who is the father of Pearl in Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter"?
9. When Hester Pryne gives birth to Pearl in "The Scarlet Letter," it is obvious she has committed adultery because she is not married.
10. What short story begins, "In some old magazine or newspaper, I recollect a story, told as truth, of a man [. . . ] who absented himself for a long time from his wife."
11. Fill in the missing words from the close of this Hawthorne short story: "And Endicott, the severest Puritan of all who laid the rock-foundation of New England, lifted the wreath of roses from the ruin of the May-Pole, and threw it, with his own gauntleted hand, over the heads of the Lord and Lady of the May [ . . . ] They went heavenward, supporting each other along the difficult path which it was their lot to tread and never wasted one regretful thought on the vanities of _______________."
12. What is the name of the minister who dons a black veil in one of Hawthorne's short stories?
13. Fill in the missing name from this short story: "That very singular man, old ______, once invited four venerable friends to meet him in his study. There were three white-bearded gentlemen, Mr. Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew, and Mr. Gascoigne, and a withered gentlewoman, whose name was the Widow Wycherly."
14. Hawthorne wrote a biography of this American President.
15. The scarlet letter that Hester was forced to wear was probably a(n):
16. From 1846 to 1847, Hawthorne served as Surveyor in the Custom-House at Salem.
17. What short story features the city of Destruction, The Slough of Despond, and characters such as Mr. Smooth?
18. Which of the following is *not* a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne?
19. Which of the following *is* a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne?
20. Hawthorne is sometimes credited with having influenced Herman Melville to turn what might otherwise have been a light sea adventure into one of the most significant American novels of all time.
Source: Author
skylarb
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
Bruyere before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
