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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 Constance believe about the information she is given?

2. What does Juliet do while Romeo is searching?

3. What does Constance go to find?

4. What do Romeo and Juliet attend?

5. What does Desdemona think about Romeo?

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

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

5. How does the author of this play satirize the real Romeo and Juliet fight scene?

6. Why does Constance pounce on a Servant walking by?

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

8. How are the three women, Desdemona, Juliet, and Constance, different and what is the same about them?

9. What is Tybalt's reaction to Romeo and Juliet's fascination with Constance?

10. What is Romeo's response to Desdemona, and what does this response say about Romeo's personality?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Act 2, Scene 2, Constance unwittingly inserts herself as the Wise Fool into the drama of Othello. Answer the following questions in a well-developed essay using examples from the book as well as personal experience:

1. Define what is meant by the dramatic use of the Wise Fool. Give several examples that you learn from your research.

2. Describe how Constance fills the role of the fool in Act 2, Scene 2. Give specific examples.

2. Would you call her actions as that of a "wise" fool or just plain foolish? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

In Act 3, Scene 7, Juliet admits she does not know the name of the author and determines to commit suicide in shame. . 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. Write an essay and include responses to the following questions: How many times does Juliet either threaten or attempt suicide? Is she ever serious? What is different about Juliet's suicidal tendencies in Goodnight Desdemona compared to Juliet's actual suicide in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet? Why do you think the author focuses so much on Juliet's apparent fascination with suicide? How does this thread contribute to the plot? Does Juliet's suicidal tendencies in GOODNIGHT DESDEMONA help make the play a comedy versus her suicide in Romeo and Juliet which contributes to that play being a tragedy?

2. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for children ages 10-17; only car accidents claim more lives in that age range. Discuss why you think this may be true and what you think needs to or could be done to help change this statistic. Be sure to be specific and include any situations of which you have personal knowledge if you are comfortable doing so.

3. In Goodnight Desdemona, most readers would not expect Romeo to kill himself over any of his "true loves" (Juliet, Constance, or Desdemona). Discuss why this is true, giving examples, and what this reveals about Romeo's character in GOODNIGHT DESDEMONA.

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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