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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. What do the nurses fail to notice about Nat?

2. What does Arby point out to Nat?

3. What is the name of Shakespeare's son?

4. Who does Richard Burbage resemble in Nat's mind?

5. Whose voice sounds somewhat like Elizabethan English?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Nat feel about being in the late 16th century and how does Roper make it even worse?

2. Where does Nat move in Chapter 10 and who shows him around?

3. How does Nat increase his acting skills, in particular playing the character of Puck?

4. How does Nat respond when Shakespeare calls the group a family and what does Shakespeare do?

5. What amazes Nat about London when he is on his way to the Globe?

6. With whom does Nat live in London and how does he feel about them?

7. What does Arby point out to Nat in the first reading of one play?

8. What does Arby forbid the boys to do and how does Nat react to Arby's guidance?

9. What does Nat recite for his speaking class and who congratulates him after the recitation?

10. What are some of the things that seem different to Nat when he wakes?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss one of the following:

1. Thoroughly analyze how the setting informs the plot in "King of Shadows".

2. Trace and analyze one major theme of King of Shadows. How is the theme represented by symbolism? By the characters' behaviors? By the action?

3. Trace and analyze two secondary themes of "King of Shadows". How are the themes represented by symbolism? By the characters' behaviors? By the action?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze the theme of love throughout King of Shadows. Consider the following questions as you write: What characters are most concerned with love? Why? What are some symbols of love? Symbols of hate or dislike? What characters seem most loving? Least loving?

2. Trace and analyze the theme of grief throughout "King of Shadows". What characters are most concerned with grief? Why? What are some symbols of grief? How do the characters handle grief?

3. Trace and analyze the theme of politics throughout "King of Shadows". What characters are most involved in politics? Why? What are some symbols of politics? Symbols of power? Why are some of the ways different characters express their political involvement?

Essay Topic 3

Nat of 1999 is a about sixteen when the novel opens. Discuss the following:

1. What are some ways that Nat seems like an average sixteen year old? Give examples and why you say the activities are average teen activities.

2. What are some ways that Nat seems older than sixteen? Give specific examples and discuss whether they seem consistent with the character of Nat as he is developed throughout the book.

3. Is it realistic to think Nat could handle the situations that arise in the novel in the ways he does? How much impact do you think Nat's father's suicide had on his growing up faster?

(see the answer keys)

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