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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 act of fidelity do Julia and Proteus commit when parting ways at the the beginning of Two Gentlemen of Verona?

2. At the beginning of Macbeth, the title character is than of what township?

3. What good news does Antonio learn after winning his case against Shylock?

4. How is Silvia related to the Duke of Milan?

5. At the end of Much Ado About Nothing, Hero pretends to be her own what?

Short Essay Questions

1. In The Winter's Tale, how does Paulita convince the king of Bohemia to let her marry his son?

2. How does Portia save Antonio's life in Merchant of Venice?

3. Why does Belarius think Imogen is dead in Cymbeline?

4. How are Cordelia and Lear reunited?

5. How does Posthumus return to Britain at the end of Cymbeline?

6. What is Don Pedro's attitude to Beatrice and Benedick at the beginning of Much Ado About Nothing?

7. Under what circumstances does Lear go mad?

8. Why does Macbeth kill Banquo?

9. Why does Kent have to disguise himself to follow King Lear?

10. How does Prospero find Ariel in The Tempest?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many of Shakespeare's stories take place in the court of ruling people. In such stories - like Cymbeline, Macbeth, King Lear, or Hamlet - the acquisition power is the driver of conflict. Write an essay charting the way power changes hands in three such stories. Who loses power who should control it? What usurper or group of usurpers takes power, and how is this unnatural acquisition reighted by the end of the narrative?

Essay Topic 2

Tales from Shakespeare contains stories based on Shakespeare's comedies and tragedies. Write a three part essay, discussing the difference between Shakespearean tragedy and comedy, citing specific examples of each in the three sections:

Part 1) What features make a tragedy in Shakespeare? How do they almost always end? Discuss which components of narrative are always the same in a tragedy. What type of lesson does Shakespeare intend for the writer to take away from the experience? How does he impart these themes?

Part 2) How does a comedy progress? What is the traditional ending to a Shakespearean comedy? Discuss how a comedy develops differently from a tragedy, and what it relates about humanity. What parts of the human existence does Shakespeare omit in writing a comedy?

Part 3) Compare the experience of reading a comedy and tragedy? How do protagonists in each of these differ in terms of their objectives and dynamic nature? Discuss what the reader is supposed to sympathize with in each case.

Essay Topic 3

In much of Shakespeare's writing, the natural and the supernatural interact, with mysticism coloring and driving the course of human events. Write an essay about three such instances, discussing the function and form of supernatural events:

Part 1) What is the story of A Midsummer Night's Dream before the introduction of the fairy world? How do the fairies affect the human world? Is this effect intentional or incidental to their business? Discuss how the events of this fairy world color the events of the Athenian youths.

Part 2) How does the realm of magic come into play in The Tempest? Who is reacting and fighting against magic, and who is controlling it? Discuss the way magic is used in the narrative as a driver of story. What magical figures are central to this story, and what specific actions do they undertake?

Part 3) What do the witches of Macbeth represent? How are they catalysts for the action, driving human interaction and rash action? Chart their appearances throughout the story. What promises do they make to the main character, and how do these promises prove false in the end?

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