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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. After speaking with Hamlet, what is the condition of Guildenstern and Rosencrantz?

2. What two different meanings do they seem to apply to the word madness?

3. How does Hamlet respond when Guildenstern asks how Hamlet's mother and Uncle are deceived?

4. What happens after the Player dies?

5. What is the Player's response when Guildenstern asks where he is going?

Short Essay Questions

1. The stage is dark when Act 3 begins. Describe what the audience hears.

2. When Hamlet does return, what does he say about the body?

3. How are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern trying to figure out where they are?

4. What advice does Rosencrantz give the Player whose troupe is invited to entertain at court?

5. What transpires when Rosencrantz brings up the subject of death?

6. What is the tragic news Claudius bears when he and Gertrude enter to find Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

7. What happens when the King orders Guildenstern to go and bring Hamlet?

8. What happens over the subject of money?

9. What clue is there as to Hamlet's mental condition?

10. What is the lie Rosencrantz tells Claudius?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a paper on the tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive. Using the lies Rosencrantz and Guildenstern told Claudius about the whereabouts of Hamlet, discuss in your paper how telling lies almost always ends in difficult situations. Give a real world example.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

Write a paper on costuming for a play. Hamlet has been staged often in modern dress. Why, then, is it important in Stoppard's play that the costumes be Elizabethan? What do you think the costumes add to the play?

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