Here is a sample of the questions high school students were asked in the 2009 DPS Shakespeare Festival Challenge Bowl.
The questions cover five categories: Elizabethan England; Famous Quotes; Richard III (this year’s featured play); Shakespeare’s Biography; Shakespeare’s Plays and Theaters.
- What did nobles carry around to help relieve the smell in the streets?
- In Shakespeare’s time, why would you go to the cooper?
- In what Shakespeare play is the following quote: “This was the most unkindest cut of all.”
- In what Shakespeare play is the following quote: “Done to death by slanderous tongue was the Hero that here lies.”
- In Richard III, what is the conflict between the families of York and Lancaster commonly called?
- Is Richard III the protagonist or villain in the play?
- Shakespeare acted in his own plays. True or false?
- What common “visitor” of Europe at the time reached Stratford in 1564, the year of Shakespeare’s birth?
- What did a black flag above the Globe Theater indicate?
- What was “the yard”?
Answers.