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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 gives "Winter's Tale" its supernatural quality, according to Bloom?

2. Whom does Bloom say Iachino in "Cymbeline" resembles?

3. How does Bloom characterize the Falstaff of "The Merry Wives of Windsor"?

4. Who whom does Fluellen compare Henry V?

5. What does Nietzsche say Hamlet's problem was?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Bloom say is the heart of "The Tempest"?

2. What is Bloom's estimation of "Henry VIII"?

3. Where does Bloom see comedy in "Antony and Cleopatra"?

4. What does Bloom say makes "Hamlet" so fascinating?

5. What is the moral of "Measure for Measure", in Bloom's account?

6. What warning does Bloom say Emerson makes about ''King Lear"?

7. What view does Bloom take on Iago's character?

8. What does Bloom say is the heart of "Macbeth"?

9. Where does Bloom say "Winter's Tale" sits in Shakespeare's folio?

10. What does Bloom say is the flaw of "Coriolanus"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the role of society in Shakespeare's writing, and what is its role in Bloom's thinking? Is society meant to be entered, resisted, overcome, evaded? How do Shakespeare and Bloom understand the imaginative person's place in society?

Essay Topic 2

Is Shakespeare an everyman, whose talents are universal, or is he a unique individual whose gifts will never be repeated? Is he a type or a hero? How does Bloom describe him? How do you see him, as a result of reading this book?

Essay Topic 3

Which one of Shakespeare's plays is most promising for further analysis, in your opinion? Which play raises questions you would like to answer? What are those questions, and what part of Bloom's analysis makes those questions seem poignant? How does Bloom himself frame the answers for those questions?

(see the answer keys)

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