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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Gertrude respond when she hears Guildenstern's prayer?
(a) She says, "Thy will be done."
(b) She says, "Praise the Lord."
(c) She says, "You need more than prayer."
(d) She says, "Amen."

2. Trying to determine what Rosencrantz wants to see, what does the Player mention not too subtly?
(a) Great Tragedies and comedies they have performed before kings
(b) Bawdy barroom ballads acted out by the mimes as the musician splay and sing
(c) Rapes are mentioned and he alludes to wives and "ravished virgins" and asks if he is getting warm.
(d) Adam and Eve in the Garden in their original costumes

3. What is Alfred's reply when Guildenstern asks if he likes being an actor?
(a) He says he always wanted to be an actor.
(b) He says he does not.
(c) He says it's an easy way to earn a living.
(d) He says he never really thought about it.

4. What is the fanciful conversation started by Guildenstern when Rosencrantz hears a sound.
(a) About calssical music
(b) About the fife and drum
(c) About things that go bump in the night
(d) About unicorns

5. What is Guildenstern's observation about their strange situation?
(a) That it is probably all a dream.
(b) That it will soon be over and they can go home.
(c) That they are fortunate that they are presented with alternatives.
(d) That Claudius will explain everyting to them.

Short Answer Questions

1. What type of play does the Player mention that comes at another cost?

2. What does Guildenstern mean when he says he is afraid, too?

3. What does Guildenstern continue doing with the coin tosses?

4. How is the troupe's cart being pulled?

5. What does the player tell Guildenstern they are more about?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Guildenstern take advantage of the Player?

2. What things are troubling Rosencrantz as he and Guildenstern are once again left alone on the stage?

3. How does the Player reinforce the idea that the troupe is willing to perform a vulgar show?

4. Why do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern speak differently to Claudius and Gertrude?

5. How does Guildenstern come across as the more intelligent of the two men?

6. Describe the somewhat bizarre entrance of Hamlet and Ophelia.

7. What does Guildenstern say that emphasizes their helplessness in a situation they do not understand?

8. What comic relief does the dialogue about home provide for the play?

9. Why are Guildenstern and Rosencrantz on this road and what has Guildenstern been expecting?

10. What appears to be the relationship between the two men?

(see the answer keys)

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