Shakespeare's Othello Test and Answer Key for High School
Conclude a unit on Shakespeare's Othello with this summative test and answer key. By completing this assessment, students will demonstrate general knowledge of character actions, dialogue, and motivations. In addition, they will explore the significance of selected passages and apply knowledge of literary devices such as situational irony and dramatic irony. Finally, students will write with clarity, accuracy, and precision in response to a prompt requiring them to analyze Iago and support the claim that he is a weak villain. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered as editable Word Documents and printable PDFs. (Alternatively, a Google Drive option is available.) Below is a breakdown of the assessment's format.
Part 1 - Matching - Characters - 15 questions
Iago's motivations
The conflict between Desdemona and Brabantio
Othello's background
Emilia's discovery of the handkerchief
Characters who commit homicide
Bianca's reputation
Emilia's testimony and its ramifications
A character's suicide
And more
Part 2 - Multiple Choice - Plot - 6 questions
Roderigo's desires
The love story of Othello and Desdemona
Iago's manipulation of Cassio
A husband-and-wife conflict
A crumbling father-daughter relationship
Iago's desire for revenge against Othello
Part 3 - Matching - Quote Association - 10 questions
“Do you perceive in all this noble company where you owe most obedience?”
“Cassio, I love thee but never more be officer of mine.”
“Thou hast set me on the rack: I swear tis better to be much abused than but to know a little.”
“For I will make him tell the tale anew, where, how, how oft, how long ago, and when he hath, and is again to cope you wife.”
“O brave Iago, honest and just, that has such noble sense of thy friend’s wrong! Thou teachest me.”
“Think on thy sins.”
“Within these three days let me hear thee say that Cassio’s not alive.”
“Our general’s wife is now the general: confess yourself freely to her…”
“I have very poor and unhappy brains for drinking…”
“We must straight employ you against the general enemy Ottoman.”
Part 4 - Short Answer - Quote Analysis - 6 questions
“O, beware my lord of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster…”
“He takes her by the palm…with as little a web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio.”
“Reputation is an idle and false imposition: oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.”
“Put out the light, and then put out the light.”
Part 5 - Short Answer - Lit Term Application - 3 questions
Dramatic irony
Situational irony
Part 6 - Essay - Character Analysis (Iago) - 1 question
Materials are available for teaching a variety of Shakespeare's plays:
Conclude a unit on Shakespeare's Othello with this summative test and answer key. By completing this assessment, students will demonstrate general knowledge of character actions, dialogue, and motivations. In addition, they will explore the significance of selected passages and apply knowledge of literary devices such as situational irony and dramatic irony. Finally, students will write with clarity, accuracy, and precision in response to a prompt requiring them to analyze Iago and support the claim that he is a weak villain. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered as editable Word Documents and printable PDFs. (Alternatively, a Google Drive option is available.) Below is a breakdown of the assessment's format.
Part 1 - Matching - Characters - 15 questions
Iago's motivations
The conflict between Desdemona and Brabantio
Othello's background
Emilia's discovery of the handkerchief
Characters who commit homicide
Bianca's reputation
Emilia's testimony and its ramifications
A character's suicide
And more
Part 2 - Multiple Choice - Plot - 6 questions
Roderigo's desires
The love story of Othello and Desdemona
Iago's manipulation of Cassio
A husband-and-wife conflict
A crumbling father-daughter relationship
Iago's desire for revenge against Othello
Part 3 - Matching - Quote Association - 10 questions
“Do you perceive in all this noble company where you owe most obedience?”
“Cassio, I love thee but never more be officer of mine.”
“Thou hast set me on the rack: I swear tis better to be much abused than but to know a little.”
“For I will make him tell the tale anew, where, how, how oft, how long ago, and when he hath, and is again to cope you wife.”
“O brave Iago, honest and just, that has such noble sense of thy friend’s wrong! Thou teachest me.”
“Think on thy sins.”
“Within these three days let me hear thee say that Cassio’s not alive.”
“Our general’s wife is now the general: confess yourself freely to her…”
“I have very poor and unhappy brains for drinking…”
“We must straight employ you against the general enemy Ottoman.”
Part 4 - Short Answer - Quote Analysis - 6 questions
“O, beware my lord of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster…”
“He takes her by the palm…with as little a web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio.”
“Reputation is an idle and false imposition: oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.”
“Put out the light, and then put out the light.”
Part 5 - Short Answer - Lit Term Application - 3 questions
Dramatic irony
Situational irony
Part 6 - Essay - Character Analysis (Iago) - 1 question
Materials are available for teaching a variety of Shakespeare's plays:
Conclude a unit on Shakespeare's Othello with this summative test and answer key. By completing this assessment, students will demonstrate general knowledge of character actions, dialogue, and motivations. In addition, they will explore the significance of selected passages and apply knowledge of literary devices such as situational irony and dramatic irony. Finally, students will write with clarity, accuracy, and precision in response to a prompt requiring them to analyze Iago and support the claim that he is a weak villain. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered as editable Word Documents and printable PDFs. (Alternatively, a Google Drive option is available.) Below is a breakdown of the assessment's format.
Part 1 - Matching - Characters - 15 questions
Iago's motivations
The conflict between Desdemona and Brabantio
Othello's background
Emilia's discovery of the handkerchief
Characters who commit homicide
Bianca's reputation
Emilia's testimony and its ramifications
A character's suicide
And more
Part 2 - Multiple Choice - Plot - 6 questions
Roderigo's desires
The love story of Othello and Desdemona
Iago's manipulation of Cassio
A husband-and-wife conflict
A crumbling father-daughter relationship
Iago's desire for revenge against Othello
Part 3 - Matching - Quote Association - 10 questions
“Do you perceive in all this noble company where you owe most obedience?”
“Cassio, I love thee but never more be officer of mine.”
“Thou hast set me on the rack: I swear tis better to be much abused than but to know a little.”
“For I will make him tell the tale anew, where, how, how oft, how long ago, and when he hath, and is again to cope you wife.”
“O brave Iago, honest and just, that has such noble sense of thy friend’s wrong! Thou teachest me.”
“Think on thy sins.”
“Within these three days let me hear thee say that Cassio’s not alive.”
“Our general’s wife is now the general: confess yourself freely to her…”
“I have very poor and unhappy brains for drinking…”
“We must straight employ you against the general enemy Ottoman.”
Part 4 - Short Answer - Quote Analysis - 6 questions
“O, beware my lord of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster…”
“He takes her by the palm…with as little a web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio.”
“Reputation is an idle and false imposition: oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.”
“Put out the light, and then put out the light.”
Part 5 - Short Answer - Lit Term Application - 3 questions
Dramatic irony
Situational irony
Part 6 - Essay - Character Analysis (Iago) - 1 question
Materials are available for teaching a variety of Shakespeare's plays: