
To Be or Not to Be
Authored by Heaven Harris
English
7th - 9th Grade
CCSS covered
Used 712+ times

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This quiz focuses on Shakespearean literary analysis, specifically examining Hamlet's famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy alongside an interview about teaching Shakespeare to prisoners. The content is appropriate for grades 9-10, requiring students to analyze complex themes, interpret figurative language, and connect textual evidence to literary concepts. Students need strong reading comprehension skills to parse Shakespearean language and identify metaphors comparing death to sleep and dreams to the afterlife. The quiz demands higher-order thinking skills as students must evaluate how different audiences might interpret the same text, particularly examining how maximum-security prisoners connected with Romeo and Juliet's themes of violence and environment. Students must demonstrate mastery of literary terminology, understanding the distinction between soliloquies and other poetic forms, while also analyzing how context shapes interpretation of classic literature. Created by Heaven Harris, an English teacher in the US who teaches grades 7 and 9. This comprehensive assessment serves multiple instructional purposes, functioning effectively as a unit culmination quiz, homework assignment, or formative assessment tool to gauge student understanding of Shakespearean analysis. Teachers can use this quiz to evaluate students' ability to connect textual evidence with thematic interpretation, a critical skill in literary analysis. The multi-part question format encourages students to first identify themes and figurative language, then locate supporting evidence, reinforcing the connection between claims and textual support. This quiz aligns with Common Core standards RL.9-10.1 for citing textual evidence, RL.9-10.2 for determining themes, and RL.9-10.4 for analyzing figurative language and word meanings, while also supporting RL.9-10.6 through its examination of how different audiences might interpret the same literary work.
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13 questions
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1.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
30 sec • 1 pt
PART A: Which of the following best states a theme of the soliloquy?
Suicide is not only tragic but morally wrong, and should be discouraged.
When life is full of pain and struggle, it is worthwhile to end one’s life rather than suffer.
It is better to take one’s own life rather than take another’s in the name of revenge.
Life is full of struggle, but the great unknown of death is far more fearsome. Life is full of struggle, but the great unknown of death is far more fearsome.
Tags
CCSS.RL.7.4
CCSS.RL.7.10
CCSS.RL.7.3
CCSS.RL.9-10.10
CCSS.RL.9-10.10. RL.11-12.10
2.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
1 min • 1 pt
PART B: Which of the following quotes best supports the answer to Part A?
“To die, to sleep — / No more — and by a sleep to say we end / The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks / That flesh is heir to. ‘Tis a consummation / Devoutly to be wished.” (Lines 5-9)
“For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, / Th’ oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely / The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay, / The insolence of office, and the spurns / That patient merit of th’ unworthy takes, / When he himself might his quietus make” (Lines 15-20)
“The undiscovered country, from whose bourn / No traveller returns, puzzles the will, / And makes us rather bear those ills we have / Than fly to others that we know not of?” (Lines 24-27)
“And thus the native hue of resolution / Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought, / And enterprise of great pitch and moment / With this regard their currents turn awry / And lose the name of action.” (Lines 29-33)
Tags
CCSS.RL.2.6
CCSS.RL.8.3
3.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
1 min • 1 pt
PART A: How does Shakespeare use figurative language to talk about death?
Shakespeare compares life to a nightmare and death to peaceful sleep.
Shakespeare compares life to crossing into new countries and death to being in a fixed state.
Shakespeare compares life and death to battles in which one has the choice of fighting.
Shakespeare compares death to sleep and dreams to the afterlife.
Tags
CCSS.RL.2.6
CCSS.RL.8.3
4.
MULTIPLE SELECT QUESTION
30 sec • 1 pt
PART B: Which TWO quotes from the text support the answer to Part A?
“‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” (Lines 2-3)
“take arms against a sea of troubles / And by opposing end them.” (Lines 4-5)
“and by a sleep to say we end / The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks / That flesh is heir to.” (Lines 6-8)
“For in that sleep of death what dreams may come / When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, / Must give us pause.” (Lines 11-13)
Tags
CCSS.RL.7.1
CCSS.W.7.9A
5.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
1 min • 1 pt
What type of poem is "To be or Not to Be?"
soliloquy
Free Verse
Ballad
Sonnet
Tags
CCSS.RL.7.4
CCSS.RL.7.10
CCSS.RL.7.3
CCSS.RL.7.5
CCSS.RL.8.10
6.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
1 min • 1 pt
Who wrote "To Be or Not to Be?'
Tolstoy
Jane Austin
Shakespeare
Robert Frost
Tags
CCSS.RL.2.6
CCSS.RL.8.3
7.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
1 min • 1 pt
PART A: Reread paragraph 2. What is the host’s likely purpose for beginning the interview segment in this way?
By using rhetorical questions, the host is highlighting the ubiquity of Shakespeare.
By asking listeners to recall their associations with Shakespeare, the host is making the interview seem more relevant to the audience.
By bringing to mind more common associations with Shakespeare, the host is emphasizing the remarkableness of Bates’ story.
By asking Bates about her own memories of Shakespeare, the host is attempting to learn more about the origins of her interest in Shakespeare.
Tags
CCSS.RL.2.6
CCSS.RL.8.3
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