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The Merchant of Venice Questions
The Merchant of Venice Questions
The questions for this worksheet have been taken from: The Merchant of Venice, 2005, Black Cat Publishing, Genoa, Canterbury. (Some of the questions have been altered to accommodate the educational purposes for the Shakespeare course.)
i. Reliable and trustworthy (9) 8. Discuss the following: (about 50 words) What personal qualities do you think are important in these types of people: a. A best friend b. A parent c. A teacher d. A boss (3)
g. Nerissa thinks this young man is Bassanio. (7) 2. The Prince talks about people who only look on the surface of things, and Portia says that she is not the kind of person who judges by a mans appearance. The idea of first impressions and judging appearances is one of the themes in The Merchant of Venice. What are the first things that you notice about someone? Feel free to add to the list. Choose at least 3. (3) hair posture feet voice teeth dress eyes smile loudness height gestures hands laugh
3. Consider these questions and the answer only ONE of them. Your answer should be a paragraph. (about 100 words) (5) a. How much do you think first impressions count? b. Can you think of any particular situations when it would be especially important to make a good first impression? c. Talk about a recent time when a person you saw created a good impression. What was it that made you form this idea? d. Think of a time when someone made a bad impression. Why was it bad in your opinion?
I am (1)_____ more and more worried about Antonios ships. Every day brings more bad news. Today I heard someone say one of his ships was lost off the coast of England the same
(2)_____ coast where another ship was reported to have (3) _______. I dont know what to believe anymore. I simply hope that these rumours arent (4) ______ . But unfortunately that is not the (5) _____ thing. Not only does Antonio seem to have lost his fortune, he also seems to be in danger of losing his (6) _______ . And all because of one man Shylock. We saw him in the street today. That man is so consumed with anger and bitterness about Jessica running away that he (7) _______ to have lost all reason. All he can think about is the money that he has (8) ________ and the chance to take revenge on Antonio. He (9) _____ Antonio is responsible and take his pleasure in thinking that Antonio is now a (10) ______, penniless man. He appears to want revenge at all costs. Shylock is (11) ____ to go ahead with the conditions of the bond and to take the pound of flesh that Antonio owes him, even though it will bring him no (12) _______ gain. How will this end? (12)
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Why does Antonio say the Duke of Venice cannot help him? (1) What does the Duke of Venice ask Shylock to do? (1) Who has the Duke of Venice asked to help resolve the case? (1) What news does the messenger bring? (1) According to Portia, why is mercy such a wonderful quality? (1) Portia makes a last suggestion. What is it and how does Shylock respond? (2) Look at the words in the table below. Which one fits best with each definition below? trial legal a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. merciful sentence law court guilty jury obey contract judgment judge case criminal
A _______ is a place where legal decisions are made. A _______ is the process of deciding if someone is innocent or not. A _______ is the decision given by the court. The person who is officially responsible for deciding the punishment of the court is the ____. A _______ is an official rule. The ______ is a group of people who decide if a person is innocent or not. The opposite of innocent is ______. Someone who is ______ shows kindness and compassion to someone in their power. A ______ is an official document of a formal agreement between two or more people. A ______ is someone who has done something illegal. (10)
c. Antonio says that Shylock must convert to Christianity. (1) d. Portia and Nerissa go to the Dukes house for dinner that evening. (1) e. Bassanio offers Portia three thousand ducats. (1) f. Portia asks Bassanio for his gloves. (1) g. Portia and Nerissa decide to play a trick on both Bassanio and Graziano. (1) 2. Think about the five characters in the table below. Use the box of words (and any other ideas of your own) to complete the table. Remember that their emotional states might change throughout the trial. (2x5 Total 10) desperate revengeful merciful confident Character Bassanio Shylock Antonio Portia The Duke of Venice determined calm forgiving angry happy sad overjoyed relieved serious guilty shocked handsome responsible despairing worried passionate hopeful panicked powerful nervous
3. Choose ONE of the characters from the table above. Write a short paragraph describing how they felt during the trial. You may use the words from the table but you MUST support them with your own reasoning and opinion. Your paragraph should be between 75 and 125 words. (5)
Reflection Section
Answer the following questions: 1. Did you enjoy reading The Merchant of Venice? If so, please explain why. If not, please explain why. (5) 2. What did you like most about The Merchant of Venice? This can be anything such as the story line, the characters, the moral of the story etc. (4)