AP Language and Composition
Information about the Assessment on The Scarlet Letter
For Friday’s assessment on The Scarlet Letter, each student will be required to choose one of the options below.
1. The Hybrid Test—a combination of 25 multiple-choice questions and one of the following essays
A. What is ironic about the fact that Arthur Dimmesdale is exalted while Hester Prynne is outcast? Explain how this happens and why it matters, relating it to the meaning of the work as a whole.
B. Explain how Pearl and Roger Chillingworth might be scourges sent from God to cleanse Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, relating it to the meaning of the work as a whole.
C. Identify one major binary established within the novel and explain its significance to the meaning of the work as a whole.
For this option, students are encouraged to prepare for the essay in advance. Therefore, students may bring notes to use during the essay section, but they may not use their notes during the multiple-choice section. Students choosing this option will not be allowed to use the book itself. Student notes will be attached to the test upon submission.
2. The Essay Test—one of the following essays
A. Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist John Updike once stated that Hester Prynne “is a mythic version of every woman’s attempt to integrate her sexuality with societal demands.” In a well-organized essay, explain what Updike means by this and defend, challenge, or qualify his idea, using textual evidence from The Scarlet Letter to support your claim. Avoid mere plot summary.
B. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening (1899), protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess “That outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions.” Identify a character from The Scarlet Letter who outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly. Then, write an essay in which you analyze how this tension between outward conformity and inward questioning contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid mere plot summary.
C. Many plays and novels use contrasting places (i.e., the land and the sea, two cities or towns, two houses, or two countries) to represent opposed forces or ideas that are central to the meaning of the work. Write an essay that shows how two places function in this way in The Scarlet Letter. Explain how the places differ, what each place represents, and how their contrast contributes to the meaning of the novel.
D. The 18th century British novelist, Laurence Sterne wrote, “No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time.” From The Scarlet Letter, choose a central character whose mind is torn by two compelling desires, ambitions, obligations, or influences. Then, in a well-organized essay, identify the two conflicting forces and explain how this conflict within one character illuminates the meaning of the work.
E. According to Richard Lizotte, both Pearl and Roger Chillingworth can be seen as scourges, individuals sent to cleanse or purify Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. In a well-organized essay, identify ways in which Pearl and Roger Chillingworth act as scourges, evaluate their effectiveness in doing so, and explain how this contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. Use textual evidence from The Scarlet Letter to support your claim. Avoid mere plot summary.
For this option, students are strongly encouraged to prepare for the essay of their choice in advance. As a result, students may bring notes and their texts to use during the test. Student notes will be attached to the test upon submission.
3. The Lens Paper—one essay based on a lens of the student’s choosing
For this option, students will be required to identify two consecutive paragraphs from The Scarlet Letter that are representative of the text as a whole. Then, within the essay, students will be required to analyze the two paragraphs, showing how and why they relate to larger ideas that are representative of the text as a whole and explaining why this is important. Once again, students are strongly encouraged to prepare for the essay in advance. As a result, students may bring notes and their texts to use during the test. Student notes will be attached to the test upon submission.
A REMINDER: All school copies of The Scarlet Letter will be collected upon your return from break. Please have them ready for submission at that time by removing all sticky notes, etc.., before then. Thank you.