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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the ridiculous conversation Rosencrantz initiates about fingernails and beards?
(a) Whether they grow before birth and after death
(b) Whether they should be worn long or short
(c) Whether they grow at the same rate
(d) Whether they are like toenails

2. How is it obvious that the two men have been playing the gambling game for a long time?
(a) Rosencrantz keeps saying he is tired of playing the game.
(b) There are coins scattered all over the stage.
(c) Guildenstern asks Rosencrantz to loan him more coins.
(d) Guildenstern's bag is nearly empty while Rosencrantz's bag is full.

3. When Rosencrantz collects the coin, why does he say Guildenstern was lucky?
(a) The coin was on heads again.
(b) The coin was on tails.
(c) The coin was buried in the sand.
(d) The coin was almost lost.

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

5. What does Claudius request of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?
(a) To play a game of coins
(b) To try to figure out what is bothering Hamlet
(c) To sing and dance
(d) To explain why they are there

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Gertrude respond when she hears Guildenstern's prayer?

2. What question does Guildenstern press on Rosencrantz during their discussion of the game?

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

4. Grabbing hold of the Player angrily, how does Guildenstern excuse himself?

5. If they discover what is troubling Hamlet, what does Rosencrantz want to know?

Short Essay Questions

1. What things are troubling Rosencrantz as he and Guildenstern are once again left alone on the stage?

2. How does Guildenstern test the oddity of the coin game?

3. What is the Player's misconception about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

4. How does Guildenstern take advantage of the Player?

5. Why are Guildenstern and Rosencrantz on this road and what has Guildenstern been expecting?

6. What type of show does the Player attempt to offer Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

7. Why is Guildenstern so repulsed by the Player's immoral suggestions for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

8. What comic relief does the dialogue about home provide for the play?

9. Throughout the play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern never leave the stage. What stops them from following the Queen's attendants to go find Hamlet?

10. How does Gertrude reinforce the idea that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are friends of Hamlet's?

(see the answer keys)

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