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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Rosencrantz have a coin in both hands?
(a) He wants Guildenstern to win and be happy.
(b) He forgot he already had a coin in his hand.
(c) He likes the feel of coins.
(d) He wants to get rid of all his coins.

2. What is the Player's response when Guildenstern asks where he is going?
(a) The Player tells him he is going to wash costumes.
(b) The Player answers that he is going to Denmark.
(c) The Player responds that he is going to find Hamlet.
(d) The Player retorts that he can come and go as he pleases.

3. In their conversation, what does the audience gather about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?
(a) That it clear they never quite know where they are or what is going on
(b) That they are the butt of a complicated joke
(c) That they never argue bacause they both see things the same way
(d) That they are too educated to understand simple minded people

4. Beside the two British Ambassadors, what characters from Shakespeare are on stage at the end of the play?
(a) Horatio and Fortinbras
(b) Othello and Iago
(c) Ophelia and Gertrude
(d) Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony

5. What do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern hear as they discuss the letter the next morning?
(a) Marching
(b) Horses
(c) Cannons
(d) Music

6. What does Hamlet do with the letter he takes from Guildenstern?
(a) He wads it up and tosses it into the sea.
(b) He tears it into a thousand pieces.
(c) He goes behind the umbrella and reads it.
(d) He burns it with flame from the lantern.

7. What is Rosencrantz's reply when Guildenstern asks why they would want to leave?
(a) So they can be free
(b) So they can tell their friends about the adventure
(c) So they know where they are
(d) So they get home before dark

8. What does Rosencrantz say as he looks out into the audience?
(a) The audience looks asleep.
(b) The direction he is looking must be east.
(c) That must be the raod home.
(d) The sun is sinking in the west.

9. Finally what does Rosencrantz decide to do?
(a) Play another game of coins
(b) Call for Claudius
(c) Hit Hamlet over the head
(d) Leave for home

10. What do they bicker about?
(a) Who has the best money bag.
(b) What they are expected to do next.
(c) Who can spin a coin the longest.
(d) How much the King gave each of them for the journey.

11. What does Guildenstern explain to Rosencrantz about Hamlet's whereabouts?
(a) That he is being taken to England by a soldier.
(b) That he is being interrogated by the King.
(c) That he has gone into hiding.
(d) That he has escaped to Norway.

12. Who are in the barrels?
(a) Ophelia and Gertrude
(b) Stowaways from Denmark
(c) The Player, the troupe, and the musicians
(d) Hamlet's bodyguards

13. What happens when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern make a snare for Hamlet out of their belts?
(a) The belts are not long enough.
(b) Rosencrantz's pants fall down around his ankles.
(c) Guildenstern's belt breaks.
(d) Hamlet sees them and runs away.

14. What happens to the troupe still dressed in their costumes?
(a) They walk off the stage.
(b) They drag Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to center stage.
(c) They all die in different ways.
(d) They join the audience.

15. In what kind of death does the Player say people only believe?
(a) Death of an actor
(b) Death on a stage
(c) Death at sea
(d) Their own death

Short Answer Questions

1. Where does the Player say they got The Murder of Gonzago?

2. What amusing thing happens with the barrels?

3. What morbid questions does Rosencrantz ask Guildenstern about death?

4. How does Hamlet slip away from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

5. What does Rosencrantz realize about the costumes of two of the troupe?

(see the answer keys)

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