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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. Which of the following characters is not related to the rest?

2. What happens to Timon when he asks his friends for money?

3. Which character is not killed by Hamlet?

4. Who does Bertrand marry at the end of All's Well That Ends Well?

5. Who tries to warn Timon of his bad habits?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the Duke of Vienna give up power at the beginning of Measure for Measure?

2. What are the marriages that end Measure for Measure?

3. What plot does Claudius concoct to be rid of Hamlet at the end of the story?

4. How did Aegeon's family come together and get separated in a matter of days?

5. Why is Hamlet dissolute at the beginning of the story?

6. How is the opening of Twelfth Night similar to the story that begins Comedy of Errors?

7. How does Pericles lose Thaisa at sea?

8. What happens when Viola, in disguise, goes to Olivia on Orsino's behalf?

9. How do Romeo and Juliet die?

10. How does Pericles reunite with his daughter and wife at the end of the story?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many of Shakespeare's stories take place in the court of ruling people. In such stories - like Cymbeline, Macbeth, King Lear, or Hamlet - the acquisition power is the driver of conflict. Write an essay charting the way power changes hands in three such stories. Who loses power who should control it? What usurper or group of usurpers takes power, and how is this unnatural acquisition reighted by the end of the narrative?

Essay Topic 2

Many Shakespearean stories involve an individual attempting to subvert a social structure: Macbeth, Othello, Shylock, Hamlet, Katharine. Write an essay about three such characters and discuss how this attempt progresses in the story. Why does this character choose to subvert this system? What does he or she want to achieve, and what subversive actions does he or she take? How does this character end up as a result?

Essay Topic 3

Shakespeare - like all writers of the Renaissance - has a central amount of stock character types that recur in his stories: the tenacious lover, the jealous companion, the conniving monarch, etc. In an essay, choose a character type that recurs throughout several stories. How does this character generally function in the story? Does he or she generally find success or ruin? Why do you think this is? Cite from the appropriate stories to illustrate your essay.

(see the answer keys)

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