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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 does Tybalt do with Romeo?

2. In what city is Constance?

3. Who comes through the vortex created by a page from the manuscript?

4. For whom is Romeo searching?

5. How is Romeo dressed?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the irony of the scene where Juliet stands beneath Constance's balcony and woos her?

2. What reason do Juliet and Desdemona give for being flat characters? Do you agree with the two women's assessment?

3. What is significant about several objects that appear in Constance's office in the "real" world and also in the fantasy world of Verona and Cyprus?

4. What is Romeo's response to Desdemona, and what does this response say about Romeo's personality?

5. What is Tybalt's reaction to Romeo and Juliet's fascination with Constance?

6. What are Tybalt's last actions before he is no longer seen?

7. What is humorous about the ghost's appearance?

8. Why does Constance pounce on a Servant walking by?

9. How does cross dressing become a theme in this sexually-loaded scene?

10. How is Constance's return to her office with her head stuffed in a waste basket metaphorical?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Act 3, Scene 1, Constance delivers a monologue, which is a dramatic devise. Answer the following questions in a well-developed essay using examples from the book as well as personal experience:

1. What is a monologue? Why would a playwright have a character deliver a monologue? Do you think monologues keep the audience attention as well as dialogue?

2. How many monologues are there in GOODNIGHT DESDEMONA? What is the purpose of two of those monologues? Are they effective?

3. If you were going to rewrite one of the longer monologues in GOODNIGHT DESDEMONA into dialogue, would you be able to impart as much information as in a monologue? Give an example of a monologue and what information in the monologue would be difficult to reveal in dialogue.

Essay Topic 2

An in-depth understanding of GOODNIGHT DESDEMONA partly hinges on understanding the corresponding characters from Shakespeare's plays Romeo and Juliet and Othello. Choose one of the following questions and write a well-organized essay using detailed examples from the text and your research to support your statements.

1. Compare and contrast the character of Desdemona from the plays GOODNIGHT DESDEMONA by MacDonald and OTHELLO by Shakespeare. Add a concluding paragraph as to which character from the plays is more interesting and has more depth.

2. Compare and contrast the character of Juliet from the plays GOODNIGHT DESDEMONA by MacDonald and ROMEO AND JULIET by Shakespeare. Add a concluding paragraph as to which character from the plays is more interesting and has more depth.

3. Compare and contrast the character of Romeo from the plays GOODNIGHT DESDEMONA by MacDonald and ROMEO AND JULIET by Shakespeare. Add a concluding paragraph as to which character from the plays is more interesting and has more depth.

Essay Topic 3

One dramatic technique that opens and closes GOODNIGHT DESDEMONA is that of the Chorus. Answer the following questions in a well-developed essay using examples from the book as well as personal experience:

1. Research the use of the Chorus both in Greek plays and Shakespeare's plays and compare the two uses.

2. Compare the use of the Chorus in GOODNIGHT DESDEMONA with how it is used in both Shakespeare's and Greek plays.

3. Do you think the Chorus adds or detracts from the play as a whole? Explain with examples.

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