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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. After talking to Hamlet in her room, what does Gertrude say about Hamlet?

2. What message is the Norwegian Captain supposed to deliver to Claudius in Act 4, Scene 4?

3. What additional method does Claudius suggest so that even if Hamlet wins the duel with Laertes, Hamlet will still die?

4. Some sailors arrive at Elsinore from a pirate ship in Act 4, Scene 6. Who do they deliver a letter to?

5. Watching the troops attacking, Hamlet decides that he is less of a man than their leader. Why does he say that?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. List the major characters who die during the last scene of the play.

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

5. After Polonius's death, Ophelia comes to see Gertrude. What do we learn about Ophelia in that scene?

6. In Act 4, Scene 5, Claudius is almost overthrown by a violent mob. Who does the mob want to be king in his place?

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

8. Who is the first person in Elsinore to find out that Hamlet is on his way back to Denmark instead of going to England? How does that person find out?

9. Claudius tells Laertes that Hamlet is responsible for Polonius's death. Claudius says that there are two reasons why he cannot have Hamlet publicly arrested and punished. What are those two reasons?

10. Hamlet finally confronts his mother in Act 3, Scene 4, speaking harshly to her as he tries to force her to realize her own complicity in the crime. What happens to change his tone?

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

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?

Essay Topic 3

There are so many characters in a Shakespeare play that it is sometimes easy to lose track of them. Find a scene in which an important character is mostly silent -- for example, the scene where Polonius and Claudius spy on Hamlet and Ophelia. Why is that character still in the scene? How is the audience's sense of the scene changed by knowing that character is present? How does the character make its silent presence felt?

(see the answer keys)

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