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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. What does the person have that Constance see?

2. What does Constance do with a cigarette butt she sees on the floor?

3. What name does she think this person might really be?

4. Who does Constance think is avoiding his occupation?

5. When the two women embrace, what does Constance feel?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Constance learn about the scrolls and then decide to do?

2. Describe what happens when Desdemona and Juliet arrive at the crypt and stand near Constance.

3. What are Tybalt's last actions before he is no longer seen?

4. For whom is Constance searching at the beginning of Act 3, Scene 3 and why is this ironic?

5. What does the purpose of this brief scene (Act 3, Scene 3) seem to be?

6. What reason do Juliet and Desdemona give for being flat characters? Do you agree with the two women's assessment?

7. Upon what deal do Juliet and Constance agree?

8. What is the irony of the scene where Juliet stands beneath Constance's balcony and woos her?

9. What is Juliet's response to learning of Constance's true gender?

10. How is Constance's return to her office with her head stuffed in a waste basket metaphorical?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

An in-depth understanding of GOODNIGHT DESDEMONA partly hinges on understanding the corresponding characters from Shakespeare's plays Romeo and Juliet and Othello. Choose one of the following questions and write a well-organized essay using detailed examples from the text and your research to support your statements.

1. Compare and contrast the character of Desdemona from the plays GOODNIGHT DESDEMONA by MacDonald and OTHELLO by Shakespeare. Add a concluding paragraph as to which character from the plays is more interesting and has more depth.

2. Compare and contrast the character of Juliet from the plays GOODNIGHT DESDEMONA by MacDonald and ROMEO AND JULIET by Shakespeare. Add a concluding paragraph as to which character from the plays is more interesting and has more depth.

3. Compare and contrast the character of Romeo from the plays GOODNIGHT DESDEMONA by MacDonald and ROMEO AND JULIET by Shakespeare. Add a concluding paragraph as to which character from the plays is more interesting and has more depth.

Essay Topic 2

In Act 3, Scene 9, Constance becomes exasperated with both Desdemona and Juliet, calling them unreasonable and dimensionless and both women agree they are flawed. Answer the following questions in a well-developed essay using examples from the book as well as personal experience:

1. What is a flawed character? Is the trait different in a heroic character versus a villain? Does one assume a flaw in a villain but not necessarily in a hero?

2. How do you think Desdemona and Juliet are flawed characters? Do their flaws make them less "flat"? Are there flaws serious enough to keep them from being defined as heroines?

3. Do you think the flaws in the male characters are similar or different from those in Desdemona and Juliet? Explain using specific examples.

Essay Topic 3

There are a number of actions and objects that represent something else, i.e., they are symbolic. . Choose one of the following questions and write a well-organized essay using detailed examples from the text, your research and personal experience to support your statements:

1. One of the most overtly symbolic actions is when Romeo and Juliet pull the turtle in half in Act 3, Scene 2. What are a couple possible things this action symbolizes? Is this symbolic action (the pulling in half of a live animal) "over the top?" Could this symbolic action have been represented in a less gruesome way, or would that have diminished the impact of the action?

2. Find three other symbols or symbolic actions and give a brief account of them and what they represent. (for example: the diamond necklace Othello gives Constance or the gold pen at the end of the drama).

3. Why do writers use symbols or symbolic actions? How does it add to the depth or coherence of a piece of literature? Give some examples of symbols in a piece of literature or film and explain what they mean to you and if they are effective for conveying meaning.

(see the answer keys)

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