Understanding (?) Hamlet

The last time that I taught our Introduction to Literature course, I assigned Shakespeare's Hamlet in order to discuss performance. I call it "Night of a Thousand Hamlets," and it involves showing numerous clips of the "To Be or Not to Be" speech done by various actors (Olivier, Branagh, Gibson, etc.). I also give a reading quiz to see that everyone in class has kept up with the assignments.

Among the questions I asked were "How does Ophelia die?" and "What does Hamlet ask of Horatio at the end of the play?" I'm usually stunned by the answers. Even if you've not fully read the play, you'd think there are enough cultural references to Hamlet out there for someone to guess correctly. Not quite.

I did not correct any misspellings or grammatical errors in the following answers.

How does Ophelia die?

• “Being grazed by the poison sword”
• “May have been grased by the sword”
• “Ophelia dies by drinking poison”
• “By poison”
• “Ophelia commits suicide”
• “She is murdered”
• “She kills herself”
• “Ophelia dies”
• “Ophelia goes insane after her father’s death and kills herself"

What does Hamlet ask of Horatio at the end of the play?

• “Hamlet asks Horatio to avenge his death”
• “He asks Horatio to look after his mother”
• “Hamlet asks Horatio to sneak him out of the palace”
• “Hamlet asks Horatio that country”
• “Hamlet asks Horatio to defend him”
• “To flee the kingdom”
• “Hamlet asks Horatio to give him the cup to drink”

You'd think grading short reading quizzes (just 3-4 questions each) would be simple, perhaps even boring. However, the answers above would indicate that it's never dull, no matter how simple the answers might be.