View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Portia react when she sees what is in the casket chosen by the guest at Belmont?

2. Why is Bassiano so nervous about Antonio signing the loan agreement?

3. What does Jessica hope her father will lose on the night of the masquerade?

4. What is Launcelot's father's name?

5. What does Portia really not like about the Moroccan Prince?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the letter Jessica wrote to Lorenzo say?

2. What does Gratiano say about Jessica after speaking with her for a time?

3. Why does Shylock hate Antonio?

4. Whose arrival is announced at the end of the second scene, and how is this news received?

5. How did Portia feel when the Prince of Morocco chose the wrong Casket?

6. What do the inscriptions on each of the caskets say?

7. What do Salarino and Gratiano say about love while they is waiting for Lorenzo to arrive at the masquerade?

8. What does Jessica ask Launcelot to do before he leaves Venice?

9. Who is Bassanio in love with, and what must he do to woo her?

10. What does the Moroccan prince think is causing Portia's reserved and quiet reaction to him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The characters in this play all had their own goals and motivations. Select four characters and write about their main motivations and how this goal affects the characters around them.

Essay Topic 2

Friendship is a strong theme throughout the play. Where are some places that this theme appears, and how do the characters touched by it react? How do certain friendships change over the course of the play, and what causes these changes?

Essay Topic 3

This play takes place in a few different settings. Describe some of these settings and how they affect the course of the plot. Why might Shakespeare have chosen these particular places?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 680 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample