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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. When Hamlet visits his mother in her room in Act 3, Scene 4, he speaks very harshly to his mother. What makes him stop?

2. How does Laertes die?

3. At the end of the play, a messenger arrives from England with news. What is the news?

4. While explaining Hamlet's crime to his courtiers, why does Claudius say he has to be gentle with Hamlet?

5. How does Hamlet act after he has killed someone?

Short Essay Questions

1. Whose burial does Hamlet witness in Act 5?

2. After Polonius's death, what does Gertrude tell Claudius about Hamlet?

3. How does Hamlet suggest that Claudius and his servants might find Polonius's body?

4. In Act 4, Scene 3, what does Claudius reveal to the audience about his plans for Hamlet in England?

5. In the last scene of Act 3, Polonius is killed. At the end of the scene, what happens to his body?

6. Who is the first person in Elsinore to find out that Hamlet is on his way back to Denmark instead of going to England? How does that person find out?

7. After Polonius's death, who is sent to find Hamlet?

8. How does Hamlet avoid going to England?

9. List the major characters who die during the last scene of the play.

10. As Hamlet travels to the boat for England, what or who does Hamlet find on a plain in Denmark?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe how Shakespeare uses foreshadowing to prepare his audience for the very bloody end of the play. Identify specific examples from the first four acts of the script.

Essay Topic 2

Research the concept of "hamartia" or "tragic flaw." Write an essay in which you explain this concept and apply it to Hamlet or one of the other major characters in this play. Make sure you support your thesis with examples from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Study some of the basics of Niccolo Machiavelli's "The Prince" and apply them to the political situation in Denmark. What would Machiavelli say about Claudius? Polonius? Fortinbras? Hamlet?

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