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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. At the end of Act 2, Scene 2, what does Hamlet reveal about his reasons for wanting the players to perform?

2. After the play is performed, what do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern ask Hamlet to do?

3. Who is Ophelia?

4. Once left alone on stage in Act 3, Scene 3, what does Cladius express guilt about?

5. After Laertes has left in Act 1, Scene 3, Polonius talks to Ophelia about her romance. What does Polonius tell her?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Hamlet act towards Ophelia during the play-within-a-play?

2. How does Claudius react to the play-within-a-play?

3. What is the point or theme of Hamlet's "To be or not to be" speech?

4. In Act 2, Scene 1, how does Ophelia describe Hamlet's appearance?

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

6. In Act 2, Scene 1, how does Ophelia describe Hamlet's behavior?

7. When Hamlet meets Ophelia after the "To be or not to be" speech, he is polite or gentle with her at first. What happens to change his attitude? How does his attitude change? What does he say?

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

9. After the play-within-a-play, where is Hamlet asked to go? Who asks him to go there?

10. The first time Claudius appears on stage, he gives a speech describing the current state of affairs in Denmark. He identifies and explains three major events. What are those events?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Study some of the basics of Niccolo Machiavelli's "The Prince" and apply them to the political situation in Denmark. What would Machiavelli say about Claudius? Polonius? Fortinbras? Hamlet?

Essay Topic 2

Describe how Shakespeare uses foreshadowing to prepare his audience for the very bloody end of the play. Identify specific examples from the first four acts of the script.

Essay Topic 3

Shakespeare is well known for adding comic characters to his most serious plays. In Hamlet, these characters may include Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Osric, and the gravediggers. Choose one or two of these characters/pairs of characters. Identify how they add comic relief to the script and at what point in the action does Shakespeare include them. How is that scene changed by having humor included?

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