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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Hamlet do with the letter he takes from Guildenstern?
(a) He goes behind the umbrella and reads it.
(b) He wads it up and tosses it into the sea.
(c) He tears it into a thousand pieces.
(d) He burns it with flame from the lantern.

2. Finally what does Rosencrantz decide to do?
(a) Play another game of coins
(b) Hit Hamlet over the head
(c) Call for Claudius
(d) Leave for home

3. What does Guildenstern do with a dagger he takes from the Player?
(a) He plunges it into the Player all the way to the hilt.
(b) He cleans his nails.
(c) He uses it to slice bread.
(d) He cuts the Player's throat.

4. Who are in the barrels?
(a) The Player, the troupe, and the musicians
(b) Hamlet's bodyguards
(c) Stowaways from Denmark
(d) Ophelia and Gertrude

5. What does Claudius tell Guildenstern and Rosencrantz?
(a) That the show is about to start
(b) That Gertrude is looking for them
(c) That Ophelia has gone to a nunnery
(d) That Hamlet has killed Polonius

6. What indicates that Hamlet is insane?
(a) He believes Ophelia is a nun.
(b) He asks nonsense questions and accepts nonsense answers.
(c) He does not recognize Claudius and Gertrude.
(d) He is always talking to himself and drags the body of Polonius around.

7. What does Guildenstern explain to Rosencrantz about Hamlet's whereabouts?
(a) That he has escaped to Norway.
(b) That he has gone into hiding.
(c) That he is being interrogated by the King.
(d) That he is being taken to England by a soldier.

8. Where did Hamlet say the body of Polonius is?
(a) In the chapel
(b) In the river
(c) With Ophelia
(d) With the King

9. As characters enter and exit the stage, what is Rosencrantz's objection?
(a) He complains that he cannot remember their names.
(b) He complains that he never has time to talk to anyone.
(c) He complains that people are always coming and going.
(d) He complains that he never gets to lie down and rest.

10. To lighten the discussion, what does Rosencrantz tell Guildenstern?
(a) The story of a man buried alive
(b) Silly and meaningless jokes about life and death
(c) How coffins were invented
(d) The burial practices of elephants

11. What do the sounds in the background at the opening of Act III suggest?
(a) That the scene is in a jail
(b) That a battle is going on
(c) That the scene is in a carriage.
(d) That the scene is on a ship

12. How does Hamlet address Rosencrantz when he pulls him aside?
(a) As Ophelia
(b) As my dearest friend
(c) As Guildenstern
(d) As Polonius

13. Why is the troupe in disfavor from the King?
(a) He did not like their play.
(b) They insulted Gertrude.
(c) They got drunk at court.
(d) Their costumes were shabby.

14. Up to this point, how have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern proven to be?
(a) Helpless and powerless to influence events around them
(b) Very knowledgable about Shakespeare
(c) Sure of themselves and their whereabouts
(d) Effectual in carrying out Claudius's orders

15. What does Rosencrantz demand of the troupe?
(a) That must provide an excellent performance at court, and may not present their usual smutty acts.
(b) That they clean their costumes before they perform at court.
(c) That they must not mention having met them on the road to the court.
(d) That they use court language when they address Hamlet, Claudius, and Gertrude.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what kind of death does the Player say people only believe?

2. What do Hamlet, the Player, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern do when pirates attack?

3. How does Hamlet slip away from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

4. What makes Rosencrantz and Guildenstern laugh at this new coin game?

5. Back inside the castle, what does Rosencrantz declare?

(see the answer keys)

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