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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Guildenstern see the way the game keeps going?

2. Leaving Claudius and Gertrude, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are met by which character?

3. Where does Rosencrantz want to go?

4. How does Guildenstern win money from the Player and the troupe?

5. What strange comparison does Guildenstern make to the coins?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as the play opens.

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

3. When Rosencrantz collects the coin that was under the Player's foot, why does he tell Guildenstern that he was lucky?

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

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

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

7. Why do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern speak differently to Claudius and Gertrude?

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

9. How does Guildenstern come across as the more intelligent of the two men?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Write a paper on political revenge. Discuss in your paper the reasons Claudius had for wanting Hamlet dead. Also address the position of Gertrude as Claudius' wife as well as being Hamlet's mother.

Essay Topic 3

Write a paper on staged plays as opposed to films. Discuss what you think the advantages and disadvantages are of both types. What are the elements of entertainment one gets from the staged play that is missing from a film and vice versa? Give examples from your own experience.

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