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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. How does Hamlet act after he has killed someone?

2. What happens to Ophelia after her father's death?

3. The sailors from the pirate ships deliver letters to Elsinore. Who are the letters from?

4. How does Gertrude die?

5. What do the gravediggers say about Ophelia's burial?

Short Essay Questions

1. As Hamlet travels to the boat for England, what or who does Hamlet find on a plain in Denmark?

2. In the last scene of Act 3, Polonius is killed. At the end of the scene, what happens to his body?

3. Whose burial does Hamlet witness in Act 5?

4. In Act 4, Scene 3, what does Claudius reveal to the audience about his plans for Hamlet in England?

5. Hamlet calls Rosencrantz and Guildenstern "a sponge." Why does he say that?

6. How does Hamlet suggest that Claudius and his servants might find Polonius's body?

7. At the end of the play, we learn of the death of two minor characters. Who are they, and how do we learn of their death?

8. When Hamlet hears about Fortinbras and his attacks on Poland, what does he say about Fortinbras and about himself?

9. After Polonius's death, who is sent to find Hamlet?

10. After Polonius's death, what does Gertrude tell Claudius about Hamlet?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The play focuses a lot on death. There is the death of the old king and Hamlet's "excessive" mourning. There is the appearance of the ghost and its description of the afterlife. There is Hamlet's obsession with suicide and Ophelia's apparent suicide. There is the entire graveyard scene, with its varied perspectives on death. Shakespeare puts forth many different perspectives on this topic in the play. Choose one belief or perspective that is presented in the play; explain it and identify two or three instances in the play where that belief is supported or represented.

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 frequently attributes disease or unhappiness in "great ones" as a sign of disease or unhappiness in an entire community. In "A Midsummer Night's Dream," for example, the entire world is out-of-whack because the king and queen of the faeries are fighting. There is no question that the "great ones" in Hamlet are diseased/unhappy. How does that unhappiness manifest itself in the rest of the country? Provide specific examples from the play to support your thesis.

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This section contains 786 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample