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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. Who asks Hamlet to sit nearby during the play? Who does Hamlet prefer to sit with?

2. What specific thing does Hamlet determine Claudius must do before Hamlet can murder him?

3. In Act 1, Scene 2, what two events does Claudius describe?

4. Polonius asks Claudius to arrange for Hamlet to go somewhere after the play's performance. Where is Hamlet supposed to go?

5. The tone of the conversation between Hamlet and Ophelia in Act 3, Scene 1 changes abruptly when Ophelia does what?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. 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?

5. Polonius sends Reynaldo to Laertes with very specific instructions. What does Polonius tell Reynaldo to do, and how does Polonius tell him to do it?

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

7. 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?

8. In Act 2, Scene 2, Polonius talks to Hamlet. After that conversation, does Polonius think Hamlet is crazy?

9. Who are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and why do they go to Elsinore?

10. When Hamlet first sees the ghost, he tries to talk to it. How does the ghost respond?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the characters of Gertrude and Ophelia, focusing on the following points:

-- To what extent is each of them a victim of what happens?

-- To what extent does each of them cause what happens?

-- Does Gertrude affect Hamlet's relationship with Ophelia? If so, how? Does Ophelia affect Hamlet's relationship with Gertrude? If so, how?

-- How do the other men in the play treat Gertrude and Ophelia? How does that contribute to our overall sense of them? Focus specifically on the ghost, Claudius, Laertes, and Polonius.

-- Does it matter that these are essentially the only two female characters in the play? Why?

Essay Topic 2

Identify one or more characters as the most important "victim(s)" of this play. Who is the most unfairly punished by the sequence of events? Why?

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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