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. Why does Rosencrantz's answer please Guildenstern?

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

3. What does Guildenstern mean when he says he is afraid, too?

4. How does Rosencrantz show that he is confused?

5. What does Claudius request of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Guildenstern say that emphasizes their helplessness in a situation they do not understand?

2. How does Guildenstern continue trying to analyze the situation?

3. Describe the somewhat bizarre entrance of Hamlet and Ophelia.

4. Describe Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as the play opens.

5. What is the feeling the audience gets from the strange coin spinning game Guildenstern and Rosencrantz play?

6. How does Guildenstern show that he is still being analytical about their situation?

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

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

9. Describe the dialogue that shows the confusion of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern at this point.

10. Guildenstern asks Rosencrantz if he appears to be contradicting himself. What is Rosencrantz's odd reply?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a critique of Stoppard's play. Detail what you think are its strong points and where you think it might have been improved. At the end of your critique, rate it from one to five stars as a recommendation for someone else to read or see.

Essay Topic 2

Write a paper about friendship. Using Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as examples, describe how one friend is usually dominant. Also write about how even the best of friends often quarrel or bicker.

Essay Topic 3

Do some research on the Elizabethan theater and write a paper on how Stoppard's staging of his play borrows from staging during Shakespeare's time. In your paper include how the Player and his troupe were able to stage plays as they moved from place to place.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 820 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample