View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Pericles win the Thaisa's hand in marriage?

2. Who tries to warn Timon of his bad habits?

3. In Comedy of Errors, where do the twins of Syracuse seek shelter in Ephesus?

4. Why does the Duke of Vienna place Angelo in charge at the beginning of Measure for Measure?

5. In All's Well That Ends Well, what must Helena do to gain Bertrand's hand in marriage?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Romeo banished from Verona?

2. What challenge does Bertram make to Helena in All's Well That Ends Well?

3. Why cannot Bianca get married in Taming of the Shrew?

4. What wager is involved in the final part of Taming of the Shrew?

5. How does Pericles reunite with his daughter and wife at the end of the story?

6. Why is Hamlet dissolute at the beginning of the story?

7. Describe Romeo and Juliet's meeting and courtship.

8. Why does the Duke of Vienna give up power at the beginning of Measure for Measure?

9. How is Angelo corrupted in Measure for Measure?

10. What are the marriages that end Measure for Measure?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Shakespeare's day, sea travel was the most common form of extended travel, particularly in the Mediterranean. As such, ship travel and ship wrecks play an important role in his plays as drivers of narrative. Write an essay, citing three stories, of the use of maritime travel in Shakespeare. How does sea travel offer narrative opportunities that land travel does not? Why do so many stories begin with a shipwreck? What narrative needs does he shipwreck provide?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Shakespeare's comedies are driven often by a sense of confusion and mistaken identity. People are not who they appear to be. In an essay, compare three comedies that make frequent use of mistaken identity to drive the plot. Is the confusion manufactured or accidental? Does it cause pain to anyone involved? How is it resolved, and are all the mysteries solved?

Part 1) Much Ado About Nothing

Part 2) Comedy of Errors

Part 3) Twelfth Night

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,064 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample