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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 item does Iachomo want to gain from Posthumus when they meet in Cymbeline?
2. Who is the beggar whose hovel Lear sleeps in during the storm?
3. What do Orlando and the disguised Rosaline discuss when they meet in Arden?
4. How does Julia respond to Valentine's offering of Silvia to Proteus?
5. When does Sycorax die in The Tempest?
Short Essay Questions
1. How does Proteus betray his friend Valentine in Two Gentlemen of Verona?
2. What is the problem among the young lovers at the beginning of A Midsummer Night's Dream?
3. How are Hero and Claudio reunited at the end of Much Ado About Nothing?
4. Why does Belarius think Imogen is dead in Cymbeline?
5. What is the rift in the spirit room at the beginning of A Midsummer Night's Dream?
6. Why does Kent have to disguise himself to follow King Lear?
7. How does Prospero find Ariel in The Tempest?
8. What bad decision does Antonio make regarding borrowing money in Merchant of Venice?
9. In The Tempest, how does Prospero bring his enemies to the island?
10. In A Midsummer Night's Dream, how does Oberon change the hearts of the Athenian youths?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
In his stories, Shakespeare deals with individuals that hurt and betray their fellow man. These characters have many disparate reasons for doing this. Discuss three such malefactors and their motivations in an essay:
Part 1) Why does Macbeth choose to kill Duncan, his king? What external forces impel him to commit this evil act, and why does he acquiesce to them? Discuss how Macbeth makes progressively more evil choices to protect himself. What is Shakespeare saying about the way evil men are made?
Part 2) What drives Shylock to insist upon a pound of flesh as payment from his rival Antonio? What does his place in Venetian society have to do with this? To what extent does Antonio represent this marginalized place?
Part 3) How is Iago different from the other villains in Shakespeare's stories? What drives him to destroy Othello, Cassio, and Desdemona? Does he hold a grievance against all of them? To what extent does Shakespeare present Iago as a portrait of pure evil?
Essay Topic 2
The tragic figure of Shakespeare's stories suffer because they make rash decisions without considering the full ramifications of their actions. Write an essay discussing three tragic figures from the collection and the decisions they make. What drives the most destructive of these choices? What does the character want to accomplish, and what does he or she not consider regarding the ramifications of these choices? How do these choices undo this character, and what is Shakespeare saying about the human condition with this reversal?
Essay Topic 3
In much of Shakespeare's canon, death is not necessarily a complete end to an individual's influence over human events. Using The Winter's Tale, Hamlet, and Macbeth as subjects, write an essay discussing the role of ghosts and reincarnation in Shakespeare. Who returns to the realm of the living after death? When these characters return, how do they affect the world of the living? What is the nature of this return?
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This section contains 1,156 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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