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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. How does the speaker in Act 4's eleventh scene say the associated army shall be?

2. What does Antony call the work of a soldier in war?

3. What does Antony compare to the spirit of a youth who "means to be of note," in Act 4, Scene 4?

4. How many times will Antony reward Scarus for his "spritely comfort"?

5. Who goes to make Caesar's will regarding Antony known to the troops?

Short Essay Questions

1. What purpose does Act 4, Scene 3 serve, with its interlude of unnamed, minor characters?

2. Why does Cleopatra feign submission to Caesar at the end of the play?

3. How does Caesar gain an advantage by holding his land forces still?

4. How does Antony behave towards his servants before the battle at Alexandria?

5. To what end does Cleopatra commit herself, and why, after Antony has died?

6. How does Antony react to the desertion by Enobarbus?

7. Why does Caesar insist upon being still with his land forces on the second day of Battle at Alexandria?

8. What does Enobarbus reveal about Caesar in Act 4, Scene 6?

9. How does Cleopatra envision her shaming in Rome if she is taken there as a captive?

10. What happens to Enobarbus after his speech in Act 4, Scene 9?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compose a carefully crafted and well-planned analytical essay on the character of Mark Antony. As the story's protagonist, he is regarded as an extraordinary man whose life ends in exceptional calamity and disintegration. What are his principal character traits? In what ways does Antony stand out from the rest of the characters in the story? How do these contribute to his being an extraordinary man? What affects his downfall? What characterizes the disintegration of Antony's life? How does Antony's life drive the lives of others and the plot of the story? What way of life does Antony represent?

Essay Topic 2

In a variety of scenes and a variety of manners, the play constantly exposes the inherent dangers of political success and failure. Analyze this exposition as it occurs throughout the play in a well-organized essay. In what scenes is political danger a dominant theme? How are the dangers of politics portrayed? Which characters provide insight on the dangers of the political machinations of the play and how are they exposed? What is the significance of the inherent dangers of politics to the tragic nature of the play?

Essay Topic 3

An essential element of the tragic play is the evocation of pity from the audience. In order to evoke pity, the audience must be enabled to relate with the characters caught up in the tragedy. In a broad-minded and considerate essay, analyze the means by which the play makes those involved in the tragedy, principally Antony and Cleopatra, but also Enobarbus and Eros, as well as any others caught in the struggles between mightier characters, sympathetic to the audience or reader. What scenes demonstrate the unfortunate nature of these characters' sufferings? How do they portray the characters as pitiable? What is the fundamental root of relation between the audience and the pitiable characters in these scenes? What does this reveal about dramatic tragedy and its relationship to human nature?

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