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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Hamlet react when he sees the ghost for the first time?
(a) He is angry and tries to attack it.
(b) He is startled, but tries to talk to it.
(c) He is upset and starts to cry.
(d) He is frightened and runs away.

2. What does Hamlet ask Horatio to do during the play's performance?
(a) Help Hamlet kill Claudius as the play is performed.
(b) Watch Claudius and see if he reacts to the play.
(c) Watch Polonius and see if he reacts to the play.
(d) Watch Gertrude and see if she reacts to the play.

3. What does Polonius ask Reynaldo to give to his son?
(a) Money.
(b) Clothes.
(c) Money and written notes.
(d) Written notes.

4. In Act 1, Scene 3, what does Polonius ask Ophelia to do about Hamlet?
(a) Spy on him.
(b) Stay away from him.
(c) Make friends with him.
(d) Flirt with him.

5. What specific thing does Hamlet determine Claudius must do before Hamlet can murder him?
(a) Confess his crime so the world will know about his guilt.
(b) Commit a sin so Hamlet can send his soul to hell.
(c) Stand trial for his crime so he can face public justice.
(d) Apologize to Hamlet for killing his father.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the ghost do to Hamlet in Act 1, Scene 4?

2. At the start of the play, what are Francisco and Bernardo doing?

3. In Act 2, Scene 2, what happens when Polonius first tries to speak to Hamlet?

4. What is the weather like at the beginning of the play?

5. In Act 2, Scene 1, what does Ophelia say about the look on Hamlet's face?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Hamlet follows the ghost, what do his friends decide to do?

2. When Hamlet rants about love and marriage to Ophelia, he is talking about more than just his own relationship with her. What else is Hamlet talking about?

3. At the end of Act 1, Scene 5, what does Hamlet tell his friends about his future behavior?

4. Laertes and Polonius are both concerned about Ophelia's romance. In Act 1, Scene 3, what do they tell her?

5. Hamlet says "O, that this too too solid flesh would melt...." This soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 2, is the first introduction of a theme that Hamlet will talk about repeatedly in the play. What does he talk about doing or wanting to do in this soliloquy?

6. Does the Ghost at the beginning of the play talk to the watchers?

7. After Laertes leaves in Act 1, Scene 3, Polonius and Ophelia have a private talk. What specific instruction or order does Polonius give Ophelia?

8. What is the setting (time and place) of Act 1, Scene 4?

9. What does Hamlet ask Horatio to do during the play-within-a-play?

10. Who does the ghost tell Hamlet NOT to seek revenge on?

(see the answer keys)

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