Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Bio and Background to Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet Intro. Test:
THE WORKSHEET VERSION
1) The river that ran beside Shakespeare's theatre is called The Thames.
3) After Shakespeare's death, Ben Jonson called him the "Sweet Swan of Avon."
4) In a comedy, all the conflicts within the play are resolved and things end happily.
5) The seven (7) years of Shakespeare's life for which no record exists are called the "lost years".
6) "Venus and Adonis" and "The Rape of Lucrece" are the names of two (2) of Shakespeare's poems.
7) The play Hamlet was written after the death of Shakespeare's only son.
8) The tragic hero should be dominated by Hamartia, an over abundance of some flaw in his character.
10) Shakespeare's plays fall into the following three categories: Comedy, Tragedy, and History.
11) In 1613, the Globe Theatre burned down and Shakespeare retired.
12) After Shakespeare died, the poet Ben Jonson was instrumental in putting together all of Shakespeare's work.
13) Shakespeare was born and went to school in the town of Stratford-Upon-Avon.
15) St. George's Day is April 23; Shakespeare was born on this day.
16) Mary Arden were the first and last names of Shakespeare's mother.
18) If one showed signs of being infected with the plague, they had a 70% chance of dying from the disease.
23) Shakespeare's patron was The Earl of South Hampton for whom he wrote many of his sonnets.
26) As a school boy, Shakespeare learned how to translate and speak Latin.
30) The first production in the Globe Theatre was Julius Caesar.
31) During Shakespeare's time, the theatres would often be closed due to an outbreak of plague.
32) During his youth, Shakespeare would have watched traveling actors performing, stories from the Bible, and
these would have been his first introduction to acting.
33) During Shakespeare's day, the parts of men would be played by men and the parts of girls would
be played by boys. (Out of /2)
34) In what churchyard would one find the following inscription on Shakespeare's grave stone? Holy Trinity Church,
Stratford.
"Good friend for Jesus sake forbear/To dig the dust enclosed here!/Blessed be the man that spares these
stones,/And cursed be he that moves my bones."
35) Shakespeare's plays generally have this number of plot lines: Two.
36) During Shakespeare's day, the plots of plays were usually adaptations from other sources.
37) The time in which Shakespeare wrote many of his plays is known as The Elizabethan period.
38) The Jacobean period is named for King James I of England who ruled during Shakespeare's life?
39) The Roman numeral V tells us we are referring to Act Five of a Shakespearean play.
40) Of all the professions Shakespeare had, he most considered himself to be a poet.
41) Shakespeare is said to have died after too much drink and pickled herring.
42) To whom did Shakespeare leave his "second best bed"? To his wife.
43) Shakespeare owned of the Globe Theatre (answer is a number as a %). 10%
47) A bard is a "poet;" The Bard is another name for William Shakespeare. (Out of /2)
48) Shakespeare wrote plays of 'greater depth' and plays that were tragedies after Hamnets death.
49) What was the last play Shakespeare wrote? The Tempest.
*Note: On the actual test, you will be provided with a word bank of answers; there will be more possible answers
than there are questions. Because a word bank is provided, spelling and correct capitalization WILL count; marks
will be lost if transfer of answers is done without due care and attention.