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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. Who is the one person who is kind to the narrator at school?

2. What does the narrator learn months later from Mr. Bond?

3. What sudden urge does the narrator have?

4. What does the narrator's dad begin doing?

5. What does Pashka ask of the narrator?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when the narrator's mother goes for some medical tests?

2. Why does the narrator begin to write Charlotte's life and what does he want to know about her as he is writing?

3. What does Charlotte tell the narrator about death?

4. What catches the narrator's attention almost obsessively?

5. How does Pashka almost drown once?

6. What does the narrator do after he accidentally insults a girl at a dance?

7. What does the narrator do about a place for Charlotte when she comes to visit?

8. How does the narrator's encounter with the girl with russet-colored hair occur and how does it work out between them?

9. How does the narrator's interest in Russia cause him problems?

10. What does the narrator do about three years after staying in the tombs and why was it difficult to do? How did he overcome the difficulty?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"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 2

The narration creates a sense of mystery, engaging the reader in the narrator's quest for truth. In this case, there are two different truths - what happened to Charlotte, and where does the narrator fit?

1. Explain what you think the above statements mean. Use examples from the text to support your answer.

2. Using just the text from the first chapter, argue whether the search for who is Charlotte is the most important aspect of the story or the problems of who the narrator is.

3. Explain what about the sense of mystery in the first chapter goaded you to continue reading the book. Use examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Titles often play a vital role in making a person decide to read a particular book. Discuss the following:

1. Fully explain why you think "Dreams of My Russian Summers" is titled as such. Do you think it is the best title for the book? Why or why not? Can you think of a better title? Why would you choose it?

2. How important is a title in influencing you to consider reading a book? Explain your answer.

3. Do you think a title needs to have direct relevance to a book's content? Explain your answer.

4. Have you ever read a book that when you finished, you do not understand the relevance of the title? Does it discourage you from "trusting" that particular author again?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,200 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample