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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 aspect of Sergey's personality does Marya respond to?

2. Who is Eugene Irtenev?

3. Why does Eugene Irtenev move to the Semenov estate?

4. What is the relationship between Christian Cossacks and Muslim Tartars?

5. To whom does Eugene Irtenev confide his lustful thoughts about Stepanida?

Short Essay Questions

1. How has Marya's attitude about marriage changed by the end of the story?

2. What is the relationship between the Grebensk Cossacks and the Muslim Tartars?

3. What causes Marya and Sergey to get beyond their jealousies?

4. What intrudes to make Marya unhappy?

5. How does Praskovya Federovna's bad temper affect Ivan Ilych?

6. What does Dmitri Olenin think he will find in the Caucasus?

7. When do Ivan Ilych and Praskovya Federovna finally arrive at a truce?

8. What does Ivan Ilych learn on his deathbed?

9. Describe the beginning of Marya's relationship with Sergey.

10. What causes Sergey and Marya's relationship to blossom?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the state of civilization in the Russia of these stories? Are they modern, agricultural, primitive? What kinds of conflicts are taking place over the state of culture or progress? How do those conflicts reveal 'Russian culture'?

Essay Topic 2

To what extent are Tolstoy's stories allegories? How do characters and events in the stories map to values and ideas in the allegory? Explain the allegorical significance of two of Tolstoy's stories.

Essay Topic 3

To what extent are Tolstoy's stories instructional, and what are they teaching? Describe the educational value of three of Tolstoy's stories.

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