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Nathaniel Hawthorne Trivia

Nathaniel Hawthorne Trivia Quizzes

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While 'The Scarlet Letter' is probably Hawthorne's best-known novel, he wrote a number of other books and short stories exploring life in the Puritan society of colonial New England. He also wrote a biography of his college friend Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States.
8 Nathaniel Hawthorne quizzes and 90 Nathaniel Hawthorne trivia questions.
1.
  "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This quiz is on Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel, "The Scarlet Letter".
Average, 10 Qns, bonanza22, Dec 17 05
Recommended for grades: 7,8,9
Average
bonanza22
2054 plays
2.
  Hawthorne: Life, Novels, Stories   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 20 Qns
A survey of Hawthorne's works, as well as a few stray questions about his life.
Average, 20 Qns, skylarb, Nov 27 19
Average
skylarb
Nov 27 19
1210 plays
3.
  The Scarlet Letter    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
One of Hawthorne's classics: an easy test of knowledge on a difficult text.
Average, 10 Qns, benh336, Nov 07 18
Recommended for grades: 7,8,9
Average
benh336
Nov 07 18
2102 plays
4.
  Young Goodman Brown    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
How much do you know about this short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne? Find out with this quiz.
Average, 10 Qns, emmer, Mar 06 17
Average
emmer
851 plays
5.
  "The Scarlet Letter" Obscurities   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Nathaniel Hawthorne's, "The Scarlet Letter" is regarded as one of the greatest exemplifications of the Romantic novella. Let's see how well you know the book.
Average, 10 Qns, unbelievable1 , Sep 23 08
Average
unbelievable1 
1253 plays
6.
  Scarlet Letter Quiz    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This is about the classic novel, 'The Scarlet Letter'. It will go over characters and some of the plot. Enjoy!
Easier, 10 Qns, puggleperson, Feb 23 12
Easier
puggleperson
311 plays
7.
  Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Here are ten questions on the works of one of America's great authors, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Most of the questions deal with Hawthorne's short stories.
Difficult, 10 Qns, fja0485, Jul 09 03
Difficult
fja0485
734 plays
8.
  Rappaccini's Daughter    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This is a quiz over "Rappaccini's Daughter" by Hawthorne. Enjoy!
Average, 10 Qns, rose5, Jun 07 08
Average
rose5
305 plays
trivia question Quick Question
What is the name of the idealist in Hawthorne's "House of Seven Gables," who eventually learns to temper his optimism?

From Quiz "Hawthorne: Life, Novels, Stories"




Related Topics
  Literature Before 1900 [Literature] (50 quizzes)


Nathaniel Hawthorne Trivia Questions
1. Who is the author of this classic book?

From Quiz Scarlet Letter Quiz

Answer: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Hawthorne published 'The Scarlet Letter' in 1850. It was an instant hit. The story takes place in 17th century Boston.

2. Where is Giovanni going to school?

From Quiz Rappaccini's Daughter

Answer: University of Padua

Giovanni came from Italy to study.

3. How old is the sin-born daughter, Pearl, at the beginning of the FIRST scaffold scene?

From Quiz "The Scarlet Letter" Obscurities

Answer: 3 months

At the beginning of Hawthorne's novel, it is mentioned that Pearl is three months old.

4. Who is the wearer of the scarlet letter?

From Quiz The Scarlet Letter

Answer: Hester Prynne

Hester wears the red A on her bosom.

5. How long did Hester have to stand on the scaffold?

From Quiz "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Answer: Three hours

Hester Prynne was convicted of adultery, and forced to wear a red "A" on her dress for the rest of her life. After she was let out of prison, she had to stand on the scaffold for a period of three hours, enduring the glares of the townspeople.

6. At what time did Young Goodman Brown leave town to go into the forest?

From Quiz Young Goodman Brown

Answer: Sunset

It has been suggested that "sunset" was not only used as a time of day, but could be used as an allegory. "Sunset" could represent the boundary between good and evil.

7. Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4, 1804, a descendant of John Hathorne, a judge. What was John's claim to fame?

From Quiz Hawthorne: Life, Novels, Stories

Answer: He presided over the Salem Witch Trials

It was another ancestor of Hawthorne's, William Hathorne, who sentenced a Quaker woman to be whipped in the streets of Boston. This bleak ancestral history profoundly influenced Hawthorne's writing.

8. Hester is the main character of this novel. She is accused of a crime, which she did commit. What is this crime?

From Quiz Scarlet Letter Quiz

Answer: Adultery

Hester commits the crime of adultery with an unknown lover. She is only caught because she becomes pregnant. Her husband was not present when she became pregnant, so the people know it was adultery. She has the child before she is punished, and names the child Pearl.

9. Who is Hester's partner in adultery?

From Quiz The Scarlet Letter

Answer: Dimmesdale

Dimmesdale had sexual relations with Hester.

10. What was the name of Hester's daughter?

From Quiz "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Answer: Pearl

Pearl was the daughter of Hester and Reverend Dimmesdale. Hester had been married to a man named Prynne, who sent her ahead to Boston while he attended to some business in England. He was taken captive by Indians and came into Boston two years after Hester did. The day he entered the town was the day that Hester had to stand on the scaffold with her illegitimate child.

11. What is Goodman Brown's wife's name?

From Quiz Young Goodman Brown

Answer: Faith

This could also be allegorical, for at one point Goodman Brown cries, "My Faith is gone!" Goodman Brown is never the same after attending the meeting in the forest, and he never trusts anyone again.

12. The narrator of this novel, Miles Coverdale, shares the same name as a Bible translator.

From Quiz Hawthorne: Life, Novels, Stories

Answer: The Blithedale Romance

Miles Coverdale, the first Protestant Bishop of Exeter, published his English Bible translation in 1535. It was translated from Latin and German. Hawthorne was probably aware of this fact when he chose the name for his main character.

13. In "Young Goodman Brown", who is the first character to address the old traveler as "the Devil"?

From Quiz Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne

Answer: Goody Cloyse

This often-anthologized short story features some classic allegorical elements, such as characters who represent values. Brown's wife, for instance, is named Faith.

14. What is Hester's long-lasting punishment for committing her crime? It has something to do with the title.

From Quiz Scarlet Letter Quiz

Answer: She must wear a giant letter on her chest

The giant letter is an A, for adultery. She has to wear it so everyone knows she committed adultery. Even though the letter is suppose to symbolize adultery, the true meaning changes as the story goes on.

15. What was the name of Rappaccini's daughter?

From Quiz Rappaccini's Daughter

Answer: Beatrice

She was poisonous and her poison resulted in the poisoning of Giovanni as well.

16. What is/are the first word(s) that Hester speaks in the novel?

From Quiz "The Scarlet Letter" Obscurities

Answer: Never

These words are the first said by Hester in the novel. She says them to Reverend Wilson, who demands that she name her co-adulterer.

17. What does Chillingworth dress up as at the beginning of the book?

From Quiz The Scarlet Letter

Answer: An Indian

He dresses up as an Indian in order to disguise himself from the rest of the town as he arrives.

18. What alias did Hester's husband take?

From Quiz "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Answer: Roger Chillingworth

Roger Chillingworth, who was indeed chilling, decided to devote his new life to finding out who Hester's lover was. He became the personal physician of Arthur Dimmesdale and spent his time trying to force the Reverend to confess.

19. When Goodman Brown met the man who led him to the meeting, what did he notice about the man's staff?

From Quiz Young Goodman Brown

Answer: It looked like a black snake

The story says that the staff looked so much like a snake that Goodman Brown thought he could see it moving by itself.

20. What is the name of the idealist in Hawthorne's "House of Seven Gables," who eventually learns to temper his optimism?

From Quiz Hawthorne: Life, Novels, Stories

Answer: Holgrave

Hawthorne seems to have grown disillusioned with the idealism and utopianism embodied in American Romanticism. However, he did not opt for sheer pessimism either; his works acknowledged the inherent sinfulness of man while at the same time holding out hope for gradual, subtle reform. He supported the possibility of improvement while denying the effectiveness of the more radical schemes of human reformers. As he wrote of Holgrave, "He would still have faith in man's brightening destiny . . . and the haughty faith, with which he began life, would be well bartered for a far humbler one at its close, in discerning that man's best directed effort accomplishes a kind of dream, while God is the sole worker of realities."

21. In "The Ambitious Guest", where does the young man say he is going after he settles for the evening at the lodge?

From Quiz Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne

Answer: Burlington, Vermont

"The Ambitious Guest" is a tale in which the evil or adversary is the power of natural forces.

22. Hester has a skill that helps her support herself. What is this skill?

From Quiz Scarlet Letter Quiz

Answer: Needlework

Hester is very skilled at needlework. Even though she is disliked because of her crime, the people still buy her needlework because it is very nice and well made. An example of her work is the scarlet letter, which she designed and created herself.

23. What caused the salamander to die?

From Quiz Rappaccini's Daughter

Answer: Liquid from the flower fell on the salamander and killed it

The plant was just as poisonous as Beatrice and would kill or contaminate everything.

24. What is Hester's hobby/occupation?

From Quiz The Scarlet Letter

Answer: Sewing

She sews many articles of clothing for the town and enjoys her fantastic skill.

25. What physical deformity did Hester's husband have?

From Quiz "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Answer: One shoulder was higher than the other.

When Hester was standing on the scaffold, images of important people in her life flashed before her eyes. One of these images was that of a man with one shoulder higher than the other. When Roger Chillingworth entered the town, she immediately noticed that he had one shoulder higher than the other.

26. How did Goodman Brown know Goody Cloyse?

From Quiz Young Goodman Brown

Answer: She was his catechism teacher

Not only had she taught him his catechism as a child, but she had remained one of his spiritual advisors.

27. In "The Blithedale Romance," the narrator visits a utopian farm, where he meets a haughty, seductive woman. What is her name?

From Quiz Hawthorne: Life, Novels, Stories

Answer: Zenobia

Priscilla is another woman he meets, a more timid creature. Hawthorne himself actually spent time in a commune, but he was disappointed by the utopian scheme.

28. What is the minister's name in "The Minister's Black Veil"?

From Quiz Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne

Answer: Hooper

Parson Hooper is the main character of mystery in the story. The other choices are names from other Hawthorne short works.

29. Who is Roger Chillingworth? It doesn't tell you until a ways into the book.

From Quiz Scarlet Letter Quiz

Answer: Hester's husband

Chillingworth was gone on business and was captured by Native Americans, leaving Hester by herself for a couple of years. Chillingworth arrives in town just as Hester is being publicly humiliated. He then visits Hester and swears revenge on her lover.

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