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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. How does the character enter the office?

2. How does Constance respond to Romeo's request?

3. Who is engaged in a mock swordfight?

4. How are the vignettes displayed?

5. What kind of cheese does Constance eat?

Short Essay Questions

1. After Constance is interrupted a second time, she starts to read Romeo and Juliet; what happens as she reads?

2. How do Othello and Desdemona first react to Constance?

3. What happens when Iago and Othella reenact their fight scene?

4. What idea does Constance develop in writing her dissertation at the opening of this scene?

5. Why do you think Act 1 is titled "The Dumbshow"?

6. What information does the monologue deliver and what literary technique might this be?

7. How does Othello reward Constance and how does his reward symbolically represent Constance's real life?

8. What effect does Constance's dramatic appearance in the middle of the argument between Mercutio and Romeo?

9. What happens in the third vignette of the Dumbshow?

10. What happens in the first vignette of the Dumbshow and from where do you think this scene is derived?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Act 3, Scene 6, the conversation between Constance and the ghost in the boneyard seems like two ships that pass in the night. Answer the following questions in a well-developed essay using examples from the book as well as personal experience:

1. Explain the conversation between Constance and the ghost in the boneyard. What is satirical about it? Do you find it ironic? How so? Give specific examples.

2. What is a boneyard? What do you think is the significance of Constance having to pass through a boneyard to find the answer to her quest? Is the boneyard symbolic of something to Constance (whether she knows it or not)?

3. What is humorous about the ghost's appearance? Do you think this is a conscious effort at comic relief? What is comic relief? Do you see it appearing in other conversations with the ghost or the Chorus?

Essay Topic 2

Choose one of the following questions and write a well-developed essay using examples from the book as well as personal experience:

1. Define gender--first write your own definition and then find one from a respected dictionary. Are the two definitions the same? Similar? Very different? Give examples of "gender bending" in our culture of the 21st century. Does "gender bending" enhance or undermine our culture?

2. How is gender addressed in the play GOODNIGHT DESDEMONA? How does MacDonald "play" with issues of gender? What do you think is her purpose (or agenda) in doing so? Is she successful?

3. Who in the play do you think most successfully bends gender? Why? Cite specific examples.

Essay Topic 3

In Act 2, Scene 2, Constance unwittingly inserts herself as the Wise Fool into the drama of Othello. Answer the following questions in a well-developed essay using examples from the book as well as personal experience:

1. Define what is meant by the dramatic use of the Wise Fool. Give several examples that you learn from your research.

2. Describe how Constance fills the role of the fool in Act 2, Scene 2. Give specific examples.

2. Would you call her actions as that of a "wise" fool or just plain foolish? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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