Open-Book Test on the Signet Introductions and
Shakespeare's The Tempest (1611), and Knox's Essay.
Do NOT write on this sheet: use the separate ANSWER SHEET provided.
1. Prospero treats Ferdinand roughly on the pretext that
A. the Neopolitan prince is in fact a spy.
B. he wants no foreigners courting his daughter.
C. Ferdinand has dared to threaten him with a sword.
D. the youth is too ill-made to be a suitable playmate for Miranda.
2. Although Shakespeare borrowed ideas from numerous sources, the sole influence on The Tempest appears to have been
A. Holinshed's Chronicles.
B. Plutarch's Parallel Lives.
C. Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur.
D. Strachey's True Repertory of the Wreck.
3. Aristotle would have objected that Shakespeare's The Tempest violates the Unity of
A. Time.B. Place.C. Action.D. Humours.
4. Stephano's domination of Trinculo in the subplot parallels what relationship in the main plot?
A. Gonzalo/Alonso.B. Caliban/Ariel.
C. Ferdinand/Miranda.D. Antonio/Sebastian.
5. This character poses the most difficult problem for the director in modern productions of The Tempest because the actor/actress taking the role must both acrobat and singer:
A. Ariel.B. Juno.C. Caliban.D. Miranda.
6. A number of the characters have dual identities or roles, but only one of the characters has three distinct, dramatised identities, which include father and ruler:
A. Alonso.B. Sebastian.C. Antonio.D. Prospero.
7. The "three men of sin" whom Prospero must purge, punish, and purify are
A. Gonzalo, Adrian, and Antonio.B. Alonso, Sebastian, and Antonio.C. Caliban, Antonio, and Sebastian.D. Antonio, Trinculo, and Stephano.
OVER.
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English Literature 12, Dr. P. V. Allingham Shakespeare's The Tempest Page Two
8. The only character who combines a sense of wonder with a sense of innovation (wit) is
A. Alonso.B. Sebastian C. Antonio.D. Gonzalo.
9. Since The Tempest involves the romance between two young lovers from warring noble families, in the speeches of Ferdinand and Miranda there are echoes of
A. Romeo and Juliet. B. Bottom and Puck.
C. Caesar and Calpurnia.D. Macbeth and Banquo.
10. The only original inhabitant of Prospero's island is
A. Ariel.B. Caliban.C. Sycorax.D. Setebos.
11. Prospero and his daughter have been on the island how many years?
A. eight.B. ten.C. twelve.D. fourteen.
12. Prospero's "hamartia" or "tragic flaw" back in Milan was his
A. obsession with public building projects.
B. fascination with scholarship, especially occult studies.
C. neglecting to prevent his brother from intriguing with the French.
D. inability to command his army and to turn back the Neopolitan invaders.
13. The Neopolitan lord who gave Prospero clothing and other necessaries, as well as his magic books, is
A. Alonso.B. Sebastian.C. Adrian.D. Gonzalo.
14. O, a cherubin
Thou wast that did preserve me! (I, ii, 152-3)
In these lines, Prospero uses (i) allusion to describe (ii):
A. (i) a topical; (ii) Ariel.B. (i) a biblical: (ii) Miranda.
C. (i) a classical; (ii) Fortune.D. (i) an historical (ii) himself.
15. Appropriately enough in light of the disguise that Ariel assumes when terrifying the Neopolitan nobles, "Ariel" in Hebrew means
A. "Lion of God."
B. "Angel of Judgment."
C. "Earth-bound Spirit."
D. "Fire, Sword, and Destruction."
OVER.
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English Literature 12, Dr. P. V. Allingham Shakespeare's The Tempest Page Three
16. In his initial appearance to the Neopolitans, on board their ship, however, Ariel appeared as
A. a harpy.B. ball lightning.
C. a storm cloud.D. a lightning bolt.
17. The phrase "the still-vexed Bermoothes" (I, ii, 229) is significant because those Atlantic islands
A. form the geographical setting of the play.
B. are, unlike Prospero's island, always "storm-tossed."
C. were reported discovered shortly before the play was written.
D. were where the English set up their first colony in the New World, in 1609.
18. Sycorax, Ariel's former master, had left what city to come to the island?
A. Tunis.B. Carthage.C. Algiers.D. Casablanca.
19. Sycorax was banished from human society for which crime?
A. murder.B. incest.C. heresy.D. witchcraft.
20. The name "Caliban" now means
A. "the missing link."B. "a hirsute individual."
C. "a 'mooncalf' or lunatic."D. "a brutal and debased person."
21. Caliban's principal task around Prospero's cell is
A. cooking and cleaning.B. fetching firewood.
C. carrying in fresh water.D. gathering nuts and berries.
22. Prospero justifies his treatment of Caliban because (he says) Caliban
A. tried to rape his daughter.
B. is unintelligent and semihuman.
C. repaid his kindness with attempted murder.
D. tried to summon up demons to take the island back.
23. Alonso and the other Neopolitan nobles have been walking up and down the island
A. led out of their way by Ariel.
B. looking for the King's son after the wreck.
C. in search of food, shelter, and friendly natives.
D. to judge whether or not it is worthy of colonization.
OVER.
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English Literature 12, Dr. P. V. Allingham Shakespeare's The Tempest Page Four
24. The kind-hearted, old lord who desperately tries to cheer up Alonso is
A. Adrian.B. Gonzalo.C. Antonio.D. Sebastian.
25. From what we learn from their conversation in II, i, when they were passing the island the Neopolitans had been
A. looking for the legendary home of Queen Dido.
B. returning from a peace conference with trade rivals at Carthage.
C. heading home from the marriage of the King's daughter at Tunis.
D. sailing towards North Africa on a military expedition against the Moors.
26. Stephano describes Caliban as a "mooncalf" because he
A. can "vent" Trinculos.
B. is monstrously deformed.
C. looks like the inhabitant of another planet.
D. bellows like some mythological creature when drunk.
27. In that Caliban proposes to Stephano that they murder his lord and usurp his position, Caliban here is equivalent to whom in the main plot?
A. Alonso.B. Antonio.C. Gonzalo.D. Sebastian.
28. Sebastian compares the incredible sight they see in III, iii, to two other incredibles, one of which (appropriately enough) suggests renewal and re-birth:
A. the unicorn.B. the phoenix.
C. the throne of Arabia.D. the only tree in Arabia.
29. Ariel's appearing as a harpy when making the feast vanish constitutes what kind of allusion?
A. biblical.B. classical.C. topical.D. musical.
30. In the BBC television production of The Tempest, Juno, the "queen o' th' sky," is dressed in
A. gold.B. blue.C. orange.D. silver.
31. The goddess Ceres is called upon to bestow a blessing upon the lovers because she is the personification of
A. power, wealth, and fame.B. fruitful soil and abundant nature.
C. passionate love and marital bliss.D. marriage, motherhood, and home.
OVER.
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English Literature 12, Dr. P. V. Allingham Shakespeare's The Tempest Page Five
32. The "many-coloured messenger" (IV, i, 76) who travels the "wat'ry arch" between earth and heaven is
A. Dis.B. Iris.C. Hermes.D. Cupid.
33. Prospero does not want Venus and her son at this celebration for all of the following reasons EXCEPT
A. they are the personification of erotic love.
B. Miranda is to remain a virgin until her marriage.
C. Ferdinand is to control the ardour of his liver until the wedding night.
D. their appearance would spoil the symmetry of the wedding masque he has planned.
34. The dance of the Naiades and "sunburned sicklemen of August" whom Prospero conjures up is consistent with what literary tradition?
A. tragical.B. comical.C. pastoral.D. Petrarchan.
35. The wedding masque is doubly appropriate in The Tempest because the play was written to celebrate the
A. engagement of Elizabeth I and King Ferdinand of Spain.
B. accession to the English throne of King James the Sixth of Scotland.
C. delivery of the Governor of Jamestown's flagship in a storm in 1609.
D. marriage of King James' daughter Elizabeth to Frederick V of the Palatinate.
36. In "The Tempest and the Ancient Comic Tradition," Bernard Knox contends that the most unusual or atypical feature of this play with respect to others in the Shakespeare canon is its
A. character types.B. geographical setting.
C. chronological setting.D. complicated plotting.
37. In The Tempest as in other late "Romances" by Shakespeare, there is a strong element of all of the following EXCEPT
A. wonder.B. improbability.C. impossibility.D. probability.
38. Knox's interpretation of The Tempest as a traditional, Aristotelian comedy is based in particular upon his analysis of the characters of
A. Ariel and Caliban.B. Antonio and Sebastian.
C. Trinculo and Stephano.D. Ferdinand and Miranda.
OVER.
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English Literature 12, Dr. P. V. Allingham Shakespeare's The Tempest Page Six
39. The conclusion of The Tempest is also consistent with the traditions of ancient comedy, for it promises all of the following EXCEPT
A. marriage.B. forgiveness.C. punishment.D. manumission.
40. At the finalé of a Roman comedy, all characters are restored to their proper status; hence, at the close of The Tempest
A. Prospero delivers a moving epilogue.
B. Prospero promises to bring Alonso to Naples.
C. Caliban realises that he was a fool to worship Stephano as a god.
D. Stephano and Trinculo promise to sober up and decorate Prospero's cell.
41. The play's "pattern of imprisonment" includes all of the following EXCEPT
A. Ariel.B. Caliban.C. Miranda.D. Ferdinand.
42. In his role as irascible father and tyrannous master Prospero resembles the Roman comic type known as the
A. senex.B. eiron.C. Harlequin.D. miles gloriosus.
43. Caliban's meeting with Stephano and Trinculo is "a servile parody" of the earlier meeting of
A. Prospero and Ariel.B. Ferdinand and Miranda.
C. Caliban and Prospero.D. Antonio, Sebastian, Gonzalo, and Alonso.
44. Which of the following lines contains hyperbole?
A. "red-hot with drinking."
B. "scarcity and want shall shun you."
C. "like the baseless fabric of this vision."
D. "sedged crowns and ever-harmless looks."
45. "For I am all the subjects that you have,
Which first was mine own king; and here you sty me
In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me
The rest of th' island."
The tone of these lines would best be described as
A. servile.B. fawning.C. querulous.D. obnoxious.
OVER.
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English Literature 12, Dr. P. V. Allingham Shakespeare's The Tempest Page Seven
46. In the passage quoted in question 45, the word "sty" suggests that the speaker is
A. ugly.B. porcine.C. besotted.D. short-sighted.
47. From the passage quoted in question 45, we may assume that the person addressed is
A. a usurper unworthy of his office.
B. inclined to be resentful and surly.
C. an innocent victim of imperialism.
D. not originally an inhabitant of the island.
48. An example of a paradox is
A. "till newborn chins / Be rough and razorable. . . ."
B. "Well, I am standing water." / "I'll teach you how to flow."
C. "It is a sleepy language, and thou speak'st / Out of thy sleep."
D. "When they will not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will lay out ten to see a dead Indian."
49. "My charms I'll break, their senses I'll restore" illustrates which of the following?
A. pun.B. parallelism.C. personification.D. anachronism.
50. The line "misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows" is all of the following EXCEPT
A. an adage.B. a gnomic remark.
C. a sententious saying. D. situationally ironic.
51. Which of the following line references indicates a couplet?
A. I, ii, 502-503.B. II, i, 330-331.C. II, ii, 43-44.D. III, i, 95-96.
52. Lines 20-21 in the first scene of the second act constitute an illustration of which of the following pairs of terms?
A. a pun and stichomythia.
B. dramatic and verbal irony.
C. hyperbole and sententious saying.
D. anachronism and biblical allusion.
53. "Blow till thou burst thy wind, if room enough" constitutes
A. an aside.B. a paradox.C. oxymoron.D. an apostrophe.
OVER.
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English Literature 12, Dr. P. V. Allingham Shakespeare's The Tempest Page Eight
54. Shakespeare makes explicit the play's theme in which of the following passages?
A. "The rarer action is / In virtue than in vengeance."
B. "I' th'commonwealth I would by contraries / Execute all things."
C. "the approaching tide / Will shortly fill the reasonable shore, / That now lies foul. . . ."
D. "We are such stuff / As dreams are made on, and our little life / Is rounded with a sleep."
55. The dominant imagery of the play is associated with all of the following EXCEPT
A. war.B. storms.C. wind and water.D. noise and music.
56. The inner stage of the Elizabethan/Jacobean theatre would have been used for which of the following locales?
A. Prospero's cell.
B. Stephano's cache of sack barrels.
C. the foredeck of Alonso's flagship.
D. the swamp in which Stephano and Trinculo are drenched.
57. In terms of Freudian psychology, Caliban represents the aspect of the human psyche listed in the dictionary is known as the
A. id.B. ego.C. superego.D. Oedipus complex.
58. Like the authors of classical epic and tragedy, Shakespeare begins the action of the play at a point so advanced in the action that virtually only the climax and denouement remain. This narrative technique is termed
A. in medias res. B. a superiore superari.
C. in flagrante delicto.D. reductio ad absurdam.
59. In III, ii, 91-107, Caliban speaks a blank verse (i) because he is under the influence of (ii):
A. (i) soliloquy; (ii) noble passions and aspirations.
B. (i) chorus; (ii) the omniscient Prospero and his minion Ariel.
C. (i) monologue; (ii) the powerful emotions of envy, malice, and lust.
D. (i) dialogue; (ii) the foolish and drunken servants Stephano and Trinculo.
60. Which of the following lines contains an example of oxymoron?
A. Brimful of sorrow and dismay. . . .
B. The rarer action is / In virtue than in vengeance.
C. Now, jerkin, you are like to lose your hair and prove a bald jerkin.
D. Do that good mischief, which may make this island / Thine own forever. . . .
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AFTER WE HAVE TAKEN UP THIS TEST WE SHALL PRACTICE EXAM-FORMAT: