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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What are Guildenstern's suggestions for him and Rosencrantz in this strange situation?
(a) Be irate and demand to go home.
(b) Be inquisitive and ask a lot of questions.
(c) Be alert, tread carefully, and follow instructions.
(d) Be confident, get the answers, and go home.

2. What is Alfred's reply when Guildenstern asks if he likes being an actor?
(a) He says he always wanted to be an actor.
(b) He says he never really thought about it.
(c) He says it's an easy way to earn a living.
(d) He says he does not.

3. 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.

4. How does Gertrude respond when she hears Guildenstern's prayer?
(a) She says, "Thy will be done."
(b) She says, "Amen."
(c) She says, "Praise the Lord."
(d) She says, "You need more than prayer."

5. What does Guildenstern do with the coins he takes out of his bag?
(a) Gives them to beggars
(b) Bites them
(c) Spins them
(d) Buys fruit

6. What is Rosencrantz's reply when Guildenstern asks if he contradicts himself?
(a) Rosencrantz asks what they have to go on.
(b) Rosencrantz asks if he is talking to him.
(c) Rosencrantz assures him he is not.
(d) Rosencrantz pretends he doesn't hear Guildenstern.

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

8. What blunder does Rosencrantz make with the introductions?
(a) He fails to mention their names.
(b) He confuses their names, calling himself Guildenstern.
(c) He talks down to the Player as though he were a Lord.
(d) He cannot recall Guildenstern's name.

9. When Guildenstern insists their meeting must have been chance, how does the Player reply?
(a) It was written into a script.
(b) There is no chance of chance.
(c) It might have been fate.
(d) Stranger things have happened.

10. What is Alfred's response when Guildenstern suggests they could set a dramatic precedent?
(a) He runs for his costume.
(b) He asks what a precedent is.
(c) He starts dancing around.
(d) He begins to cry.

11. How does Guildenstern reply to Rosencrantz's idea about how Guildenstern must be feeling?
(a) He says there is suspense while the coins are in the air.
(b) He says there are plenty more coins where those came from.
(c) He says that he doesn't mind losing because Rosencrantz is his friend.
(d) He says he is not really thinking about the game.

12. What indicates that Guildenstern may also be a bit confused?
(a) He keeps repeating himself in his conversation.
(b) He asks if anything he says makes sense in his conversation.
(c) He forgets what he is saying in his conversation.
(d) He asks if he is contradicting himself in his conversation.

13. Leaving Claudius and Gertrude, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are met by which character?
(a) Polonius
(b) Ophelia
(c) Romeo
(d) Hamlet

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

15. When the time theory is disproved, what does Guildenstern think of next?
(a) Pixies
(b) Mental telepathy
(c) Leprechauns
(d) Divine intervention

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Guildenstern suggest they do with Hamlet?

2. What does Rosencrantz say that Guildenstern must be feeling?

3. How is the troupe's cart being pulled?

4. What new theory does Guildenstern come up with for his run of bad luck?

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

(see the answer keys)

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