WorksheetsShakespeare Background Quiz
Total questions: 20
Worksheet time: 10mins
Name
Class
Date
1.
When is it believed that Shakespeare died?
a)
April 23,1616
b)
July 22,1832
c)
September 16,1759
d)
October 31,1737
2.
What year was Shakespeare thought to be born?
a)
1532
b)
1564
c)
1602
d)
1643
3.
What is a sonnet?
a)
a poem
b)
a poem of fourteen lines
c)
a poem using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes, in English typically having ten syllables per line.
d)
ALL of the above
4.
Which monarch (king or queen) was on the throne during Shakespeare's time?
a)
Henry VIII
b)
William
c)
George
d)
Elizabeth
5.
Which of these is NOT a genre of Shakespeares' plays?
a)
Comedy
b)
History
c)
Horror
d)
Tragedy
6.
What was Shakespeare's wife's name?
a)
Queen Elizabeth
b)
Anne Hathaway
c)
Juliet Monroe
d)
Vivian Marlowe
7.
Shakespeare's plays were performed at this theatre...
a)
The Oval
b)
The Globe
c)
The Horseshoe
d)
The Colosseum
8.
A story or play that ends UNHAPPILY is known as...
a)
Comedy
b)
Tragedy
c)
Fiction
d)
Sadness
9.
Shakespeare tried ALL of these professions, EXCEPT...
a)
poet
b)
playwright
c)
actor
d)
teacher
10.
Where was Shakespeare born?
a)
Stratford-upon-Avon
b)
Avon-upon-Starford
c)
Avon
d)
Stratford
11.
How many children did Shakespeare have?
a)
Susanna, Hamnet and Judith (twins)
b)
Hamnet, Susanna and Jordan (twins)
c)
Judith, Shanna and Hamnet (twins)
d)
Susanna, Hamnet and Justine (twins)
12.
Shakespeare wrote...
a)
38 plays and 158 sonnets
b)
158 plays and 38 sonnets
c)
74 poems, 47 plays, 747 sonnets
d)
No one knows exactly how many things he wrote.
13.
Which of these plays were NOT written by Shakespeare?
a)
Hamnet
b)
Romeo and juliet
c)
Julio Caesar
d)
King Lear
14.
What school did Shakespeare attend?
a)
King James II School
b)
King Edward School for the Gifted
c)
King Edward VI School
d)
King James School for the Gifted
15.
What college (or university) did Shakespeare attend?
a)
Stratford University
b)
King Edward College
c)
The Jesuit School
d)
Shakespeare did not attend college.
16.
Most of Shakespeare's sonnets did not have titles, only numbers. To not get them confused, people started referring to them by the the first line.
a)
True
b)
False
17.
Which of the following is widely considered to be Shakespeare's most popular play?
a)
Romeo & Juliet
b)
King Lear
c)
Othello
d)
Hamlet
18.
Some scholars believe there was no one person named William Shakespeare.
a)
True
b)
False
19.
In Shakespeare's time all of the actors were men.
a)
True
b)
False
20.
Shakespeare most likely wrote so many plays because...
a)
He wanted to be an actor, so he starred in his own plays.
b)
He loved writing and poetry got boring for him.
c)
No one would listen to his poems or sonnets so he moved on to plays.
d)
He failed at all of his other jobs.
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