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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 Alexander refuse to ask Tatiana's father for?

2. Who is Ivan Mazeppa?

3. Why are Nicolai and Popov working for free?

4. What river is St. Petersburg on?

5. What does Tatiana interrupt in 1844?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Nicolai's discussion with Popov on the train to Moscow.

2. What happens to the Jews in Russia after 1881?

3. Describe the state of the opposition to the Tsar in Chapters 7 and 8.

4. Who is Madame Adelaide de Ronville, and what does Alexander Bobrov need from her?

5. How does Daniel die?

6. What leads to Alexander Bobrov's arrest and imprisonment?

7. How did the revolution of 1905 begin in Russia?

8. Why does Pinegin want revenge against Sergei, and how does he get it?

9. What does Savva Suvorin do after he is freed?

10. When the narrative resumes in 1827, what trouble is Sergei having?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

What contemporary cultural problems or cultural questions does "Russka" shed light on? What questions about an ongoing cultural situation does "Russka" help you understand?

(see the answer keys)

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