For each of the following questions, think about your answer. Write down a few notes for each. Then write down a thorough answer for one of the five. Don’t worry about style, but do go into detail, explain clearly, and give specific examples. Write more than a page. Find specific examples or quotations to support your points.
1. Reflect on Shakespeare's theme: the power of words.
2. Reflect on how Shakespeare plays with the concept, the beautiful is the good in Much Ado.
3. Reflect on the use of irony in the play. Focus on the continual conflict between appearance and reality throughout the play. What is the effect of this?
4. Define the term foil and reflect on Shakespeare's use of foil in the play.
5. What has Benedick learned by the end of the play? How can you argue that he is prepared for right rule and others (like Claudio, Don Pedro, Leonato) are not.