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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. What do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern threaten to do to the Player?

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

3. How does Hamlet address Rosencrantz when he pulls him aside?

4. What makes Hamlet bow?

5. What saves Guildenstern from being trapped by Rosencrantz's betrayal?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Guildenstern's rationale for not catching Hamlet?

2. Describe the hilarious scene involving the belts of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

3. How does the audience realize that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are really dead?

4. What leads up to the death scene and how does it play out?

5. What happens when Rosencrantz hears music?

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

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

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

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

10. What causes Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to laugh over the new coin game?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a paper about the use of language styles in Stoppard's play. To what end does Stoppard utilize Elizabethan English in some scenes and modern English in others. Does this also help in identifying locations?

Essay Topic 2

Write a paper on madness. Using Hamlet as an example, write about the different ways he appears as mad in the play. Describe the moments in the play when Hamlet seems lucid and behaves like a normal person. Give your opinion about whether Hamlet was acting from madness when he wrote the additional scene to The Murder of Gonzalo.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 742 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample