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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What does Albertine suddenly do one day?
2. What is Charlotte's response to the children's request?
3. What do the adults not understand about Charlotte?
4. When is the last time Charlotte speaks to Albertine?
5. Where is Charlotte supposed to lay an object?
Short Essay Questions
1. Why does the narrator become outraged?
2. What is one of the childhood memories of Charlotte's that has left an impact on the narrator?
3. How does Albertine surprise Charlotte one day and what is left behind?
4. How does missing a train save Charlotte and her children's lives?
5. What is Charlotte's relationship to Gavrilych?
6. What does the narrator say his grandmother does when the narrator looks at the photo of the scruffy woman?
7. What happens when the narrator and his sister go for oranges?
8. What is the story does the narrator relate about Charlotte's rock collection?
9. What does Charlotte do during the war and how does she react to her work?
10. What story about Charlotte and Fyodor does the narrator recall?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Over the course of "Dreams of My Russian Summers", the narrator grows as a person in both complexity and understanding. Dreams of My Russian Summers might be considered a slice of the narrator's larger story of his "coming of age." It might be said that Dreams of My Russian Summers is a "bildungsroman" of the narrator. Discuss the following:
1. Define Bildungsroman, or "Coming of Age," and give several examples from literature you have read.
2. Trace and analyze the character of the narrator as he changes from a more carefree, innocent boy to a wiser, young man. What are the significant events that change him?
3. After thoroughly analyzing the narrator's growth throughout "Dreams of My Russian Summers", do you think "Dreams of My Russian Summers" could be considered the narrator's Coming of Age story? Why or why not?
4. Are there any other characters in "Dreams of My Russian Summers" who go through a Coming of Age experience? Who? Why do you think so?
Essay Topic 2
"Dreams of My Russian Summers" belongs to the fictional memoir genre. Discuss the following:
1. Define the literary term "genre" and give several examples of three other genres in addition to the fictional memoir genre.
2. Discuss two reasons why it might be useful to label a text by genre and two reasons it might be disadvantageous to label a text by genre.
3. What do you think is the difference between a fictional memoir and a historical novel?
Essay Topic 3
The relationship between the narrator and his grandmother has changed completely, due in part to the narrator's age since he is now entering his teenage years. He doesn't feel like he can connect to Charlotte's fairy tale stories about France any more because he knows the gritty truth about French history thanks to his studies. When Charlotte attempts to create the magical world of Atlantis for the narrator, he finds himself drifting off, not listening to the stories, imagining another world, further away from his grandmother than he's ever felt before. Charlotte recognizes the change, too, and soon their conversations about the past disappear.
1. Discuss why you think the narrator's change in age changed his relationship with his grandmother. Use examples from "Dreams of My Russian Summers" to support your answer.
2. How do you think the separation between the narrator and his grandmother affected her emotionally? Use examples from "Dreams of My Russian Summers" to support your answer.
3. Do you think knowing the truth about a country will always cause a person to not want to listen to possible fantasy stories about that countries? Why or why not? Use examples from "Dreams of My Russian Summers" to support your answer.
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This section contains 1,263 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) |
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