ElderTeamSandpiper14
Question 6 through Question 10 can be answered by the following…
Question 6 through Question 10 can be answered by the following passage.
The Tragedy of Hamlet
by William Shakespeare
The following scene is from Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Hamlet. Prince Hamlet is greatly distressed. His father, the king, recently died, and almost immediatly afterward, his uncle Claudius married the queen (Hamlet’s mother) and assumed the throne. Furthermore, Hamlet saw his father’s ghost, who accused Claudius of murdering him. Hamlet promised to avenge this crime, but he delayed acting, and some time has passed. In this scene, Hamlet has just seen a group of players, or actors, perform a scene featuring the character of Hecuba, a Trojan queen. He is alone on stage.
HAMLET. Now I am alone.
O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!
Is it not monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,
5 Could force his soul so to his own conceit1
That from her working all his visage2 wann’d,
Tears in his eyes, distraction in’s aspect,
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting
With forms to his conceit? and all for nothing!
10 For Hecuba!3
What’s Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,
That he should weep for her? What would he do,
Had he the motive and the cue for passion
That I have? He would drown the stage with tears
15 And cleave the general ear with horrid speech,
Make mad the guilty and appal the free,
Confound the ignorant, and amaze indeed
The very faculties of eyes and ears. Yet I,
A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak,4
20 Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause,
And can say nothing; no, not for a king,
Upon whose property and most dear life
A damn’d defeat was made. Am I a coward?
…I have heard
25 That guilty creatures sitting at a play
Have by the very cunning of the scene
Been struck so to the soul that presently
They have proclaim’d their malefactions;
For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak
30 With most miraculous organ. I’ll have these players
Play something like the murder of my father
Before mine uncle: I’ll observe his looks;
I’ll tent5 him to the quick: if he but blench
I know my course. The spirit that I have seen6
35 May be the devil: and the devil hath power
To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps
Out of my weakness and my melancholy,
As he is very potent with such spirits,
Abuses me to damn me: I’ll have grounds
40 More relative than this: the play’s the thing
Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.
_________________________________________
1. conceit: idea
2. visage: appearance
3. Hecuba: queen of Troy; here, a character in the play Hamlet has just seen
4. peak: carry oneself in a way that lacks energy or spirit; mope
5. tent: probe, search
6. The spirit that I have seen: the ghost of Hamlet’s father, who earlier accused Claudius of his murder and asked Hamlet to avenge him
Which best evaluates the author’s use of language in lines 1-23?
A.
By directly addressing himself (“Am I a coward?”) and using interjections (“O”), Hamlet engages the audience by seeking a response.
B.
By directly addressing himself (“Am I a coward?”) and using interjections (“O”), Hamlet engages the audience by speaking in a realistic, conversational way.
C.
By calling himself names (“rogue and peasant slave”) and using fragments (“For Hecuba!”), Hamlet powerfully conveys his anguished state of mind.
D.
By calling himself names (“rogue and peasant slave”) and using fragments (“For Hecuba!”), Hamlet vividly demonstrates his commitment to vengeance.
What internal conflict is expressed in lines 12-23 (“What would he do . . . coward?”), advancing the plot toward Hamlet’s revenge?
A.
Hamlet agonizes over why he has done so little when he has such a compelling reason to act.
B.
Hamlet feels jealous of the player, who expresses emotions more forcefully than he can.
C.
Hamlet wonders why he should try so hard when he has so little success.
D.
Hamlet feels certain he must kill Claudius, who murdered Hamlet’s father.
Which choice best describes Hamlet’s moral dilemma in the passage and its effect on the plot?
A.
Moral Dilemma: Hamlet believes that it is cowardly to delay avenging his father’s death, but he also wants proof that his uncle killed his father.
Effect on Plot: Hamlet develops a plan to test whether his uncle is guilty of the crime.
B.
Moral Dilemma: Hamlet wants to be king, but he knows his uncle has a legitimate claim to the throne.
Effect on Plot: Hamlet plans to justify seizing the throne by blaming his uncle for his father’s death.
C.
Which choice is the most reasonable analysis of the way dramatic elements in the passage interact to advance the plot?
A.
Hamlet’s internal conflict, in which he struggles with his own hesitation to act, establishes his tragic flaw and leads him to devise a new plan, contributing to the rising action.
B.
Hamlet’s internal conflict, in which he struggles with his jealousy, establishes his tragic flaw and leads him to devise a new plan, contributing to the rising action.
C.
Hamlet’s conflict with Claudius, in which he strives to respect Claudius even while suspecting him of murder, sets in motion a chain of events that will reveal Hamlet’s tragic flaw.
D.
Hamlet’s conflict with Claudius, in which Hamlet seeks to avenge his father’s death and take the throne for himself, sets in motion a chain of events that will reveal Hamlet’s tragic flaw.
D.
The text structure of the soliloquy in the selection is
A.
ineffective because the lack of rhyme and consistent meter make Hamlet’s speech seem overly casual.
B.
effective because the prose soliloquy interrupts the blank verse of the play to emphasize Hamlet’s emotions.
C.
ineffective because the final rhyming couplet interrupts the unrhymed verse and confuses the audience.
D.
effective because the blank verse of the soliloquy provides a serious tone and an energy that reflects Hamlet’s emotions.
