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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is Guildenstern's observation about their strange situation?
(a) That it will soon be over and they can go home.
(b) That they are fortunate that they are presented with alternatives.
(c) That Claudius will explain everyting to them.
(d) That it is probably all a dream.

2. What strange comment does Rosencrantz make about questions?
(a) That he understands the questions but has no answers.
(b) That he remembers when there were no questions.
(c) That questions always lead to more questions.
(d) That questions give him a headache.

3. How does Guildenstern summarize that day?
(a) They got a message to come quickly but it did not tell them where.
(b) Right after breakfast they got a summons for jury duty.
(c) they were sleeping and suddenly found themselves on a road they don't know.
(d) They were awakened at dawn with a message, a summons, and a new record for heads and tails.

4. How are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern identified in Stoppard's script?
(a) Gentleman one and Gentleman two
(b) Crantz and Stern
(c) Ros and Guil
(d) Rose and Guild

5. After trying again and again, what is the score of the game?
(a) 121 to 0
(b) 89 to 0
(c) 100 to 0
(d) 85 to 6

6. Who enters after Hamlet and Ophelia exit the stage?
(a) Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony
(b) The Player and the troupe
(c) Ariel and Puck
(d) Claudius and Gertrude

7. How many times does Rosencrantz say he has won the game?
(a) Fifty six
(b) Eighty five
(c) Seventy nine
(d) One hundred

8. What does Rosencrantz say he remembers about questions in the past?
(a) That questions never bothered him then.
(b) That there were answers for everything.
(c) That he never knew the answers.
(d) That only simple questions were asked.

9. What type of performance does the Player say they can put on for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?
(a) Comedies that will give them stitches in their sides
(b) Mimes and dance accompanied by their musicians
(c) Tragedy to include deaths, disclosures, unexpected turns of events, and even transvestite melodrama
(d) Only a few plays that they have memorized

10. What question does Guildenstern put to Rosencrantz about language?
(a) If he knows the word for housewife in Danish.
(b) If he feels more comfortable speaking French.
(c) If he sometimes forgets what he wanted to say.
(d) If ordinary words often sound strange to him.

11. What does Guildenstern suggest they do with Hamlet?
(a) That they should kidnap him.
(b) That they should blackmail Hamlet.
(c) That they should move Hamlet toward pleasurable things
(d) That they should threaten Hamlet.

12. Why does Rosencrantz's answer please Guildenstern?
(a) It tells him that he will soon start winning.
(b) It tells him that Rosencrantz is hiding a secret.
(c) It tells him that no natural laws are at work at the moment.
(d) It assures him that the law of self interest is still working.

13. How does the dialogue change when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern speak with Claudius and Gertrude?
(a) The speak French.
(b) They speak in riddles.
(c) They use Shakespearean English.
(d) They are too stunned to speak.

14. Trying to determine what Rosencrantz wants to see, what does the Player mention not too subtly?
(a) Bawdy barroom ballads acted out by the mimes as the musician splay and sing
(b) Adam and Eve in the Garden in their original costumes
(c) Great Tragedies and comedies they have performed before kings
(d) Rapes are mentioned and he alludes to wives and "ravished virgins" and asks if he is getting warm.

15. Grabbing hold of the Player angrily, how does Guildenstern excuse himself?
(a) He says he was merely testing the Player's reflexes.
(b) He says he tripped on a rock in the road.
(c) He reminds the Player that he had offered audience participation.
(d) He pretends to black out.

Short Answer Questions

1. What are Guildenstern's suggestions for him and Rosencrantz in this strange situation?

2. How is it obvious that the two men have been playing the gambling game for a long time?

3. As Rosencrantz and Guildenstern practice questioning one another, how do they keep score?

4. How does Hamlet react when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern confront him?

5. When Guildenstern insists their meeting must have been chance, how does the Player reply?

(see the answer keys)

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