Life
Where was William Shakespeare born?
Stratford-upon-Avon
What is the name of Hamlet’s father who appears as a ghost?
What two families are feuding in Romeo and Juliet?
Montagues and Capulets
In the phrase "the tragic flaw leads to downfall," name the grammatical subject and the verb.
Subject = "the tragic flaw"; verb = "leads"
In what year was Shakespeare baptized at Holy Trinity Church?
1564; baptized April 26, 1564)
Define “hamartia” as used to describe tragic protagonists.
A tragic flaw leading to downfall
Where do Romeo and Juliet first meet?
At the Capulet party/ball
Combine into one sentence showing cause: "Hamlet hesitates. He loses opportunities."
Name two professions Shakespeare held in London
Actor and playwright; also shareholder in the Lord Chamberlain’s Men
Give one example of an “unnatural event” motif that often signals tragic action in Shakespeare’s tragedies.
Omens, storms, unnatural occurrences such as apparitions
Identify one way the theme of “time and decay” (from Shakespeare’s sonnets) appears in Romeo and Juliet.
The rush of young love against time, haste leading to tragedy; references to night/day and aging
The formal meter of Shakespeare’s sonnets is this, defined in the slides as three quatrains plus a final couplet.
What is iambic pentameter?
What major London theatre did Shakespeare’s company build in 1599?
The Globe
Explain briefly how Hamlet fits the characteristics of a problem play or tragedy in terms of moral complexity.
Hamlet raises complex moral/legal questions, indecision, and ambiguous justice leading to multiple deaths
Explain how mistaken identities or separations contribute to the play’s tragic ending—give one specific example.
Juliet’s feigned death and the failure of Friar Laurence’s message to reach Romeo causes him to believe she is dead
Use a contrast conjunction to combine: "Shakespeare followed public taste. He also directed it."
Shakespeare followed public taste, yet he also helped direct it.
Identify one major gap in the documentary record of Shakespeare’s life and its approximate years.
The Lost Years, roughly 1585–1592
Analyze how political relevance is reflected in Hamlet’s plot—give a specific element that connects personal tragedy to state concerns.
The Danish court’s instability, espionage (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern), and Fortinbras’s threat show how personal revenge affects national order
Provide a short analysis (2–3 sentences) of how Romeo and Juliet combines features of a romance and a tragedy.
The play features intense romantic love, fate/omens, and catastrophic deaths characteristic of tragedy; at the same time, its ultimate reconciliation—families’ peace—echoes romance/reconciliation elements
Analyze this sentence: "A man of business and of erudition, at the same time following and directing the taste of his heterogeneous public."
Main phrase: "A man of business and of erudition" (a nominative phrase describing Shakespeare). Subordinate elements: "at the same time" (adverbial phrase indicating simultaneity) and "following and directing the taste of his heterogeneous public" (participial phrase modifying the subject phrase, indicating concurrent actions). Rhetorical effect: The structure foregrounds Shakespeare’s dual identity—businessman and scholar—while the participial phrase, signaled by "at the same time," emphasizes the paradoxical simultaneity of responding to public taste and shaping it, creating a balanced, contrastive portrait.