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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. Why is Bertram called back to court at the beginning of All's Well That Ends Well?

2. How does Antipholus of Syracuse attempt to show his appreciation to the duke at the end of Comedy of Errors?

3. What does the King of France give Helena her choice of in All's Well That Ends Well?

4. Who helps Helena plot her deception of Bertram in All's Well That Ends Well?

5. Whose death is Olivia mourning at the beginning of Twelfth Night?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why can Orsino not woo Olivia successfully in Twelfth Night?

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

3. How does Petruchio tame Katharine on their wedding day?

4. How does Pericles lose Thaisa at sea?

5. Why is Romeo banished from Verona?

6. Why is Othello summoned before the Duke of Venice for his marriage?

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

8. How does Helena trick Bertram out of his ring in All's Well That Ends Well?

9. What does Timon do with his chest of gold at the end of his story?

10. Describe Iago's revenge against Othello.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Stories from Shakespeare, Charles Lamb includes a couple of narratives that fixate on the notion of money and how its accumulation and loss can destroy a human being. Write a two-part essay discussing both of these stories, and sum up the essay by theorizing as to Shakespeare's attitude toward money in general:

Part 1) What role does wealth and the lack of it play in the plot of Merchant of Venice? What characters are affected - either positively or negatively - by the accumulation of money? Who loses his soul in the struggle for money? Who nearly loses his life and is eventually redeemed by money in the story? How is money an ambiguous force in the story?

Part 2) How does Money prove the downfall of Timon of Athens? Discuss how all of his relationships in the story are defined by wealth. In the end, what does Timon believe is the point of money and man's relationship to it? What is Shakespeare saying about wealth in Timon of Athens?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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