Hamlet, Act Five Test
THE LAST WEE SMALL TEST
ON ACT V
OF HAMLET
1. Please put the following in chronological order:
___a. Hamlet returns home from England.
___b. The gravedigger informs Hamlet that the skull belonged to Yorick.
___c. Hamlet tells Horatio the eventual fate of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
___d. Gertrude drinks from the poisoned cup prepared by Claudius
___e. Hamlet discovers that the grave being dug is for Ophelia.
___f. Osric informs Hamlet that Laertes wants to challenge him to a “friendly duel”.
___g. Hamlet and Laertes grapple with each other over Ophelia in her grave.
___h. The swords are switched and Hamlet wounds Laertes with the poisoned sword.
___i. Hamlet is wounded by Laertes with the poisoned sword.
___j. As Gertrude lies dying, she gasps that she has been poisoned by the drink.
___k. Horatio informs Fortinbras that Hamlet’s dying wish is for Fortinbras to succeed to the Danish throne.
___l. Hamlet forces the king to drink the poison.
___m. Laertes reveals his and Claudius’ plan to kill Hamlet and begs Hamlet for his forgiveness before he dies.
ll. Please fill in the blanks:
1. According to the gravedigger, how old is Hamlet?
_______________________________________________.
2. “Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay, / Might stop a hole to keep the wind away. / Oh, that that earth which kept the world in awe / Should patch a wall t’expel the winter’s flaw!
“...that that earth...” refers to what or whom?____________________________________________.
3. Why is Ophelia buried in sanctified ground?___________________________________________.
4. “...Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead,
Till of this flat a mountain you have made
T’ o’ertop old Pelion or the skyish head
Of blue Olympus.”
The above is an example of ____________________.
5. “What is he whose grief
Bears such an emphasis, whose phrase of sorrow
Conjures the wond’ring stars and makes them stand
Like wonder-wounded hearers?
The above is an example of ______________________.
6. “.....Forty thousand brothers
Could not with all their quantity of love
Make up my sum....”
The above is an example of _________________________.
7. What is the eventual fate of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
8. “....By the Lord, Horatio, this three years I have took note
of it: the age is grown so picked that the toe of the peasant
comes so near the heel of the courtier, he galls his kibe...”
and
“....Thus has he (and many more of the same breed that I know the
drossy age dotes on) only got the tune of the time, and, out of an
habit of encounter, a kind of yeasty collection, which carries them
through and through the most (fanned) and (winnowed) opinions;
and do but blow them to their trial, the bubbles are out.”
What comment is Hamlet making about the age in which he lives?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________.
9. “....There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow....”
The above is an example of__________________________.
10. What will the king put into the drink if Hamlet gives a first, second or third hit to Laertes?
_________________________________________________.
Who is wounded first in the duel?_________________________________.
12. How does Gertrude die?___________________________________________________
13. “....Why as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric.”
Who says this?______________________________________.
Under what circumstances does he say this?________________________________________________________________.
14. When does Hamlet first become aware that there is treachery afoot?
____________________________________________________.
15 How does Claudius die? ____________________________________________________.
16. “...as this fell sergeant, Death, is strict in his arrest.....”
The above is an example of _____________________________.
17. “...Oh, proud Death,
What feast is toward in thine own eternal cell
That thou so many princes at a shot
So bloodily hast struck?”
The quotation in 17 is an example of_________________________.
18. What does Horatio mean when he says,” I am more an antique
Roman than a Dane. Here’s yet some liquor left.”
__________________________________________________.
19. Who arrives at the palace after Hamlet dies?____________________________________________________.
20. Who becomes the heir to the throne?
____________________________________________________.
lll. Please answer the following questions in short essay format on a separate
sheet of paper.
a. What is the significance of the gravedigger’s scene at the beginning of
of Act V? Why do you suppose Shakespeare places this scene just
before Hamlet realizes Ophelia has died?
b. What controlling theme is established in HAMLET
evidenced by Hamlet’s jokes in Act 4 about death and decay, and his more somber
reflections on Yorick, Caesar and Alexander the Great in Act 5?
c. Discuss the motif that runs throughout the play of death and decay.
d. What is the significance of Hamlet’s last lines? “....the rest is silence.
(O, O, O, O!)”
ON ACT V
OF HAMLET
1. Please put the following in chronological order:
___a. Hamlet returns home from England.
___b. The gravedigger informs Hamlet that the skull belonged to Yorick.
___c. Hamlet tells Horatio the eventual fate of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
___d. Gertrude drinks from the poisoned cup prepared by Claudius
___e. Hamlet discovers that the grave being dug is for Ophelia.
___f. Osric informs Hamlet that Laertes wants to challenge him to a “friendly duel”.
___g. Hamlet and Laertes grapple with each other over Ophelia in her grave.
___h. The swords are switched and Hamlet wounds Laertes with the poisoned sword.
___i. Hamlet is wounded by Laertes with the poisoned sword.
___j. As Gertrude lies dying, she gasps that she has been poisoned by the drink.
___k. Horatio informs Fortinbras that Hamlet’s dying wish is for Fortinbras to succeed to the Danish throne.
___l. Hamlet forces the king to drink the poison.
___m. Laertes reveals his and Claudius’ plan to kill Hamlet and begs Hamlet for his forgiveness before he dies.
ll. Please fill in the blanks:
1. According to the gravedigger, how old is Hamlet?
_______________________________________________.
2. “Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay, / Might stop a hole to keep the wind away. / Oh, that that earth which kept the world in awe / Should patch a wall t’expel the winter’s flaw!
“...that that earth...” refers to what or whom?____________________________________________.
3. Why is Ophelia buried in sanctified ground?___________________________________________.
4. “...Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead,
Till of this flat a mountain you have made
T’ o’ertop old Pelion or the skyish head
Of blue Olympus.”
The above is an example of ____________________.
5. “What is he whose grief
Bears such an emphasis, whose phrase of sorrow
Conjures the wond’ring stars and makes them stand
Like wonder-wounded hearers?
The above is an example of ______________________.
6. “.....Forty thousand brothers
Could not with all their quantity of love
Make up my sum....”
The above is an example of _________________________.
7. What is the eventual fate of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
8. “....By the Lord, Horatio, this three years I have took note
of it: the age is grown so picked that the toe of the peasant
comes so near the heel of the courtier, he galls his kibe...”
and
“....Thus has he (and many more of the same breed that I know the
drossy age dotes on) only got the tune of the time, and, out of an
habit of encounter, a kind of yeasty collection, which carries them
through and through the most (fanned) and (winnowed) opinions;
and do but blow them to their trial, the bubbles are out.”
What comment is Hamlet making about the age in which he lives?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________.
9. “....There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow....”
The above is an example of__________________________.
10. What will the king put into the drink if Hamlet gives a first, second or third hit to Laertes?
_________________________________________________.
Who is wounded first in the duel?_________________________________.
12. How does Gertrude die?___________________________________________________
13. “....Why as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric.”
Who says this?______________________________________.
Under what circumstances does he say this?________________________________________________________________.
14. When does Hamlet first become aware that there is treachery afoot?
____________________________________________________.
15 How does Claudius die? ____________________________________________________.
16. “...as this fell sergeant, Death, is strict in his arrest.....”
The above is an example of _____________________________.
17. “...Oh, proud Death,
What feast is toward in thine own eternal cell
That thou so many princes at a shot
So bloodily hast struck?”
The quotation in 17 is an example of_________________________.
18. What does Horatio mean when he says,” I am more an antique
Roman than a Dane. Here’s yet some liquor left.”
__________________________________________________.
19. Who arrives at the palace after Hamlet dies?____________________________________________________.
20. Who becomes the heir to the throne?
____________________________________________________.
lll. Please answer the following questions in short essay format on a separate
sheet of paper.
a. What is the significance of the gravedigger’s scene at the beginning of
of Act V? Why do you suppose Shakespeare places this scene just
before Hamlet realizes Ophelia has died?
b. What controlling theme is established in HAMLET
evidenced by Hamlet’s jokes in Act 4 about death and decay, and his more somber
reflections on Yorick, Caesar and Alexander the Great in Act 5?
c. Discuss the motif that runs throughout the play of death and decay.
d. What is the significance of Hamlet’s last lines? “....the rest is silence.
(O, O, O, O!)”
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