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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. The only two men Miranda has seen prior to meeting Ferdinand are

2. What does Caliban beg of Stephano when he first meets him?

3. Why does Prospero tell the story of their past to Miranda?

4. What does Ferdinand say he is willing to do to win Miranda?

5. Trinculo views Caliban's willingness to serve as a sign of what?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Act I, Scene II with Miranda and Ferdinand a kind of exposition for the plot?

2. What does the drunken Stephano think he sees when he happens upon Caliban and Trinculo?

3. What is the intention of Prospero's plan when he has Ariel lead Ferdinand to Miranda?

4. What function in the play is served by Act II, Scene II with Trinculo, Stephano and Caliban?

5. During the storm, what can the audience already infer about Gonzalo's character and why?

6. How can Prospero's use/treatment of Miranda be characterized?

7. How are Miranda and Ferdinand different, but also the same?

8. What is the basic understanding of Antonio's and Prospero's history?

9. In Act II, Scene II, why does Caliban drop to the ground when Trinculo appears?

10. When Caliban starts babbling to Stephano and Trinculo about what he can show them on the island, what is Trinculo's initial thought?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Ferdinand, Miranda and Gonzalo are considered moral beacons throughout the play. Compare them to other characters in the play, citing examples where their moral and pure characteristics directly contrast with the play's more treacherous characters.

Essay Topic 2

Although the metaphor of a tempest suggests an unnatural upheaval in nature that then returns the environment back to normal, is this the case in the play? Do things return to normal by the play's end? Is there more ambiguity than the idea of a tempest suggests? Why, or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Symbolically, what does the scene involving Caliban, Trinculo, Stephano and the gaudy clothing mean? When Trinculo and Stephano put the clothes on, what and who do they represent?

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