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That is the Question: Shakespeare Trivia

Total questions: 20

Worksheet time: 11mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

How many sonnets in total did Shakespeare write?

a)

126

b)

154

c)

300

d)

366

2.

Shakespeare's influence goes beyond the subject of English, but which did Shakespeare NOT influence?

a)

Psychology

b)

Medicine

c)

Business & Law

d)

Mathematics

3.

Which is NOT a type of pop culture that Shakespeare influenced? 

a)

Reality TV

b)

Music

c)

Movies

d)

Musical Drama

4.

Which is NOT one of the three main streams of literature united by Shakespeare?

a)

Verse

b)

Fiction

c)

Poetry

d)

Drama

5.

Which is NOT one of the many violent ways characters died in Shakespeare’s plays?

a)

Baked into a pie

b)

Eaten by a bear

c)

Hit by a Comet

d)

Buried to the neck and starved

6.

How many movies give credit to Shakespeare for inspiration?

a)

525

b)

296

c)

355

d)

487

7.

Many rappers today use THIS TYPE OF RHYME SCHEME popularized by Shakespeare. It is used to express emotions and situations and because of how it is written it provides a natural flow to language and is easily adaptable.

a)

Iambic Pentameter

b)

Enclosed Rhyme

c)

Rhyming Couplets

d)

Blank Verse

8.

How many characters throughout all of Shakespeare's Tragedies were killed off?

a)

37

b)

86

c)

75

d)

129

9.

Which of the following Disney movies was inspired by Shakespeare's Hamlet?

a)

Frozen

b)

The Little Mermaid

c)

The Lion King

d)

Aladdin

10.

Which was NOT one of the four “humors” in medicine during Shakespeare’s time that physicians believed were the cause of illness?

a)

Phlegm

b)

Black Bile

c)

Green Bile

d)

Yellow Bile

11.

During his time, Shakespeare did not make money on his plays.  Instead, how did he make his money?

a)

His part-ownership in The Globe Theater

b)

The publishing of his Poetry

c)

Acting in various plays

d)

Profits from the acting troupe The King's Men

12.

Shakespeare invented or introduced many words that are still used today. But what is one word that he did NOT invent?

a)

Swagger

b)

Eyeball

c)

Manager

d)

Bedazzle

13.

How many words were invented or introduced by Shakespeare?

a)

855

b)

1260

c)

1,700

d)

8800

14.

What caused theaters to be temporarily closed down twice during Shakespeare's time?

a)

War

b)

Plague

c)

Religious Extremism

d)

King's Orders

15.

The Globe Theater, built in 1599, burned down in 1613 during a performance of Henry VIII because...

a)

A lantern exploded

b)

Someone set it on fire

c)

Another fire got out of hand

d)

A prop cannon misfired

16.

Shakespeare is rumored to have performed WHAT ROLE in the original production of Hamlet?

a)

The Priest

b)

First Gravedigger

c)

Hamlet

d)

The Ghost

17.

Which University did Shakespeare attend?

a)

Oxford

b)

Cambridge

c)

Yale

d)

None

18.

Shakespeare's shortest play had only 1,787 lines and 14,369 words. Which play was it?

a)

Macbeth

b)

Romeo & Juliet

c)

The Comedy of Errors

d)

Taming of the Shrew

19.

Which of Shakespeare's plays has the biggest body count - 14 deaths total in many different ways?

a)

Macbeth

b)

Titus Andronicus

c)

Julius Caesar

d)

Othello

20.

One of Shakespeare's plays is thought to be cursed. It is always referred to as "The Scottish Play" because it's believed if the name is said aloud in the theater, disaster will follow. Which play is it?

a)

Hamlet

b)

Henry V

c)

Titus Andronicus

d)

Macbeth