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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. When they open the letter, what is in it?

2. How does Hamlet respond when Guildenstern asks how Hamlet's mother and Uncle are deceived?

3. In their conversation, what does the audience gather about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

4. How does Stoppard dramatize the death of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

5. When Hamlet, Polonius, and Ophelia exit, where are they apparently going?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the hilarious scene involving the belts of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

2. What is Guildenstern's rationale for not catching Hamlet?

3. What prophetic remark does Rosencrantz make while they wait for instructions?

4. What happens when the King orders Guildenstern to go and bring Hamlet?

5. Describe the funny bowing scene with Hamlet and Claudius.

6. What does Hamlet ask the Player?

7. What is the tragic news Claudius bears when he and Gertrude enter to find Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

8. What is Rosencrantz's dark question on the subject of death?

9. What leads up to the death scene and how does it play out?

10. When Hamlet enters in Act 2, what does he say?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Do some research on the Elizabethan theater and write a paper on how Stoppard's staging of his play borrows from staging during Shakespeare's time. In your paper include how the Player and his troupe were able to stage plays as they moved from place to place.

Essay Topic 2

Write a paper on staged plays as opposed to films. Discuss what you think the advantages and disadvantages are of both types. What are the elements of entertainment one gets from the staged play that is missing from a film and vice versa? Give examples from your own experience.

Essay Topic 3

Write a paper on the tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive. Using the lies Rosencrantz and Guildenstern told Claudius about the whereabouts of Hamlet, discuss in your paper how telling lies almost always ends in difficult situations. Give a real world example.

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