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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 is the troupe's cart being pulled?

2. Guildenstern is aware that the game defies _________________________.

3. When Rosencrantz begins saying he is afraid, what is it he was going to say before Guildenstern stops him?

4. What indicates that Guildenstern may also be a bit confused?

5. How is the Player still trying to appeal to prurient interest to get more money?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the audience understand that Rosencrantz is quite naive?

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

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

4. Throughout the play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern never leave the stage. What stops them from following the Queen's attendants to go find Hamlet?

5. How does the subject of fear affect both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

6. How does Guildenstern show that he is still being analytical about their situation?

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

8. Describe Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as the play opens.

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

10. What is Claudius' request of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a paper contrasting chance and destiny. Do you believe in destiny or fate? If so, why, and if not, why not?

Essay Topic 2

Write a paper on madness. Using Hamlet as an example, write about the different ways he appears as mad in the play. Describe the moments in the play when Hamlet seems lucid and behaves like a normal person. Give your opinion about whether Hamlet was acting from madness when he wrote the additional scene to The Murder of Gonzalo.

Essay Topic 3

Write a paper on staged plays as opposed to films. Discuss what you think the advantages and disadvantages are of both types. What are the elements of entertainment one gets from the staged play that is missing from a film and vice versa? Give examples from your own experience.

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