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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 Mengu?

2. Where have Ivan's father and brothers gone?

3. Whose army is Mengu traveling with?

4. When is Bright Week?

5. When does Chapter 2 take place?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Stephen die?

2. Who is Yanka and what is her story?

3. Who has the most power in this earliest chapter?

4. What kind of political alliance does Milei suggest, and why does this injure Yanka?

5. Describe Andrei Karpenko's relationship with Maryushka.

6. What has changed by 1552?

7. Describe the lifestyles of Lebed and her people.

8. What is the political situation in Russia when the novel leaps forward to 1647?

9. What problem is Boris Bobrov having with his estate and how does he solve it?

10. Where does the novel begin?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is the absence of the 20th century a flaw in "Russka"?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the history of reformers or opposition to the Tsar, or central government. What parties did this opposition represent, and when were they most successful? When were they least successful?

Essay Topic 3

How does Rutherfurd maintain the reader's interest for nearly 1,000 pages? What plot strategies, what suspense, or what kinds of stories does Rutherfurd include, to keep his readers zooming along? Where is he most successful? Where does the narrative slow down?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 656 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample