Name:
Date:
“Shakespeare’s Sister”
Virginia Woolf
Comprehension
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
FIRST READ:
1.
In her essay “Shakespeare’s Sister,” what prompts Virginia Woolf’s musings
about Shakespeare’s sister?
a bishop’s statement
b. something she reads in a play
c. an invitation to a speaking engagement
d. her admiration for the works of Shakespeare
a.
2.
In “Shakespeare’s Sister,” what does Woolf suggest was the main reason a
woman in Shakespeare’s day could never have written plays like
Shakespeare’s?
lack of experience
b. financial hardship
c. lack of ambition
d. social strictures
a.
3.
Which of these adjectives best describe the imaginary character of Judith
Shakespeare in “Shakespeare’s Sister”? Choose two options.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
4.
loyal
talented
obedient
kindhearted
adventurous
philosophical
Given the details in “Shakespeare’s Sister,” identify the statement that most
accurately reflects the situation of women in the England of Shakespeare’s
day.
Most women received an excellent classical education.
Many women were allowed to choose their husbands.
c. Few women could fulfill their artistic ambitions.
d. No woman would be permitted to rule the nation.
a.
b.
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1
GRADE 12 • UNIT 2 • SELECTION TEST
“SHAKESPEARE’S SISTER” BY VIRGINIA WOOLF
Name:
Date:
Concept Vocabulary
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
FIRST READ:
5.
Which of these qualities would a dancer most need to display in order to be
described as a gifted ballerina?
honesty and integrity
skill and grace in her art
c. a ruthless drive for success
d. a strong need to be admired
a.
b.
6.
If a man has a taste for opera, how does he most likely feel about it?
He finds it greatly appealing and enjoyable.
b. He likes it but does not understand it very well.
c. He believes that it shows elegance and refinement.
d. He sampled it once and decided that once was enough.
a.
7.
Which of these people most clearly displays a fancy for words?
someone who is nervous about speaking in public
b. someone who frequently works on crossword puzzles
c. someone who never says what he or she really means
d. someone who enjoys the finer things in life
a.
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2
GRADE 12 • UNIT 2 • SELECTION TEST
“SHAKESPEARE’S SISTER” BY VIRGINIA WOOLF
Name:
Date:
Analyze the Text
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
CLOSE READ:
8.
The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.
Part A Consider the account presented in “Shakespeare’s Sister.” How would
well-to-do parents in Shakespeare’s day most likely have treated a daughter’s
literary ambitions?
They would have encouraged those ambitions.
b. They would have tried to stop those ambitions.
c. They would have boasted about those ambitions.
d. They would have been amused by those ambitions.
a.
Part B Which quotation from “Shakespeare’s Sister” best supports the answer
to Part A?
She was as adventurous, as imaginative, as agog to see the world as he
was.
b. She picked up a book now and then, one of her brother’s perhaps, and
read a few pages.
c. But then her parents came in and told her to mend the stockings or mind
the stew and not moon about with books and papers.
d. … [I]ndeed, more likely than not she was the apple of her father’s eye.
a.
9.
The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.
Part A In the scenario that Virginia Woolf presents in “Shakespeare’s Sister,”
what is the main reason that Judith Shakespeare sets off for London?
She wants to avoid an arranged marriage.
b. She hopes to join her famous brother.
c. She is driven by her creative genius.
d. She is angry at her father.
a.
Part B Which quotation from “Shakespeare’s Sister” best supports the answer
to Part A?
Very soon he got work in the theater, became a successful actor, and lived
at the hub of the universe, meeting everybody, knowing everybody,
practicing his art on the boards, exercising his wits in the streets….
b. She cried out that marriage was hateful to her.…
c. … [F]or that she was severely beaten by her father.
d. The force of her own gift alone drove her to it.
a.
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3
GRADE 12 • UNIT 2 • SELECTION TEST
“SHAKESPEARE’S SISTER” BY VIRGINIA WOOLF
Name:
Date:
10.
The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.
Part A According to the details in “Shakespeare’s Sister,” what happens to a
young woman who runs off to London to become a playwright?
She needs to work twice as hard as a man.
b. She is able to find a generous patron.
c. She has to work as an actress first.
d. She comes to a tragic end.
a.
Part B Which quotation from “Shakespeare’s Sister” best supports the answer
to Part A?
She stood at the stage door: she wanted to act, she said.
b. Could she even seek her dinner in a tavern or roam the streets at midnight?
c. At last … Nick Greene the actor-manager took pity on her.…
d. … [S]he found herself with child by that gentleman and so … killed
herself one winter night and lies buried at some cross-roads.…
a.
Analyze Craft and Structure
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
CLOSE READ:
11.
Which statement best expresses the central claim of Woolf’s argument in
“Shakespeare’s Sister”?
Shakespeare’s sister would have written better plays than her brother
because she knew more about suffering.
b. Shakespeare’s sister probably would have been as adventurous and fun
loving as her brother.
c. No woman could have written Shakespeare’s plays because society
would have stifled her genius.
d. No woman who lived in Shakespeare’s time could have possessed
Shakespeare’s genius.
a.
12.
What is the main paradigm that Woolf presents to argue her claim in
“Shakspeare’s Sister”?
a vivid description of the theater in Shakespeare’s time
quotations from a variety of Shakespeare’s plays
c. comments about home life in Shakespeare’s time
d. a story about an imaginary sister of Shakespeare’s
a.
b.
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4
GRADE 12 • UNIT 2 • SELECTION TEST
“SHAKESPEARE’S SISTER” BY VIRGINIA WOOLF
Name:
Date:
13.
In her argument in “Shakespeare’s Sister,” what main differences does Woolf
describe in the education of Shakespeare and his sister Judith? Choose two
options.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
14.
Shakespeare attended school, but his sister did not.
Shakespeare had a private tutor, but his sister did not.
Shakespeare studied literature, but his sister never even learned to read.
Shakespeare studied Latin, but his sister studied only English grammar.
Shakespeare had access to many books, but his sister was discouraged
from reading.
Shakespeare studied classical literature, but his sister studied only
modern literature.
In her argument in “Shakespeare’s Sister,” what main difference does Woolf
describe in the London experiences of Shakespeare and his sister Judith?
Shakespeare wins fame and fortune in London, but his sister’s London
experiences end in tragedy.
b. Shakespeare eventually becomes a playwright, but his sister can only
find work as an actress.
c. Shakespeare marries a wealthy London theatergoer, but his sister
marries a poor London actor-manager.
d. Shakespeare struggles to support himself, but his sister lives in comfort
with actor-manager Nick Greene.
a.
Word Study
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT:
15.
Which of the following meanings of bore applies to its use in this sentence?
Although women had few rights, the mother who bore Shakespeare was a rich
heiress.
to weary others by being dull
b. the hollow part of a pipe
c. to drill a hole
d. gave birth to
a.
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5
GRADE 12 • UNIT 2 • SELECTION TEST
“SHAKESPEARE’S SISTER” BY VIRGINIA WOOLF
Name:
Date:
16.
Which of the following meanings of art applies to its use in this sentence?
The actress practiced her art in summer stock before performing on Broadway.
sly or cunning trickery
any branch of creative work
c. paintings, drawings, or other graphics
d. human creativity, as opposed to that of nature
a.
b.
Conventions and Style
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT:
17.
Which of the phrases in this quotation from “Shakespeare’s Sister” most
clearly illustrates an older usage that is unlikely to be used today?
He was, it is well known, a wild boy who poached rabbits, perhaps shot a deer, and
had, rather sooner than he should have done, to marry a woman in the
neighborhood….
it is well known
b. shot a deer
c. rather sooner than he should have done
d. to marry a woman in the neighborhood
a.
18.
Which of the statements best paraphrases this quotation from “Shakespeare’s
Sister” by replacing Woolf’s older usage with usage that would be more
common today?
She cried out that marriage was hateful to her….
She wept to think about marrying someone she barely knew.
b. She screamed that she was repulsed by the idea of getting married.
c. She became depressed over her likely future as a married woman.
d. She vowed that she would do nothing to make the marriage work.
a.
19.
Which of these sentences containing the word fancy reflects the most common
usage of the word today?
She wore a very fancy gown to the theater.
b. We have taken a fancy to musical comedies.
c. This is not reality; it is all the playwright’s fancy.
d. Do you fancy a glass of lemonade during intermission?
a.
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6
GRADE 12 • UNIT 2 • SELECTION TEST
“SHAKESPEARE’S SISTER” BY VIRGINIA WOOLF
Name:
Date:
20.
Omnibus is an old term for a public motor vehicle carrying a large number of
people. Which of the following changes would best update this quotation from
“Shakespeare’s Sister” to reflect today’s usage?
… [She] killed herself one winter night and lies buried at some cross-roads where
the omnibuses now stop outside the Elephant and Castle.
Change killed to slew and stop to halt.
b. Change cross-roads to crossroads and omnibuses to buses.
c. Add an apostrophe and s to winter to make it winter’s and change lies to
lied.
d. Add another r to the spelling of buried and change cross-roads to
crossroads.
a.
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7