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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 Nastassya do with Rogozhin's money?

2. What does Aglaya ask Myshkin to read?

3. What story does Ganja's father tell?

4. What does Madam Yephanchin think her husband is doing behind her back?

5. How does the General describe the Prince to his wife?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Myshkin and Rogozhin's initial meeting like, when Myshkin visits Rogozhin's house upon returning to St. Petersburg?

2. What reason does Yephanchin say he has to be guilty over someone's death?

3. How does Myshkin describe Aglaya?

4. Why is Ganja marrying Nastassya?

5. What does Nastassya ask Myshkin, after hearing the stories of the men at the party?

6. What does Rogozhin and Lebedev's relationship seem to be like during their conversation on the train?

7. How does the General treat Prince Myshkin?

8. How does Ganja come to blows with Myshkin, and how does Myshkin respond?

9. What happened to the man that Totsky wronged in his story?

10. What stories does Myshkin tell Rogozhin about religion?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Much of the action in the novel happens at parties and social gatherings. Discuss the importance of parties and social gatherings in the novel.

1) Why does so much of the action of the novel take place at parties and social gatherings? How do the characters react differently in these social situations, than in private?

2) What role do parties and social gatherings fulfill in the culture of St. Petersburg? How do they affect the social relationships and social order of the characters?

3) How are events at parties and social gatherings reviewed and critiqued by the people attending the gatherings? How does this change the consequences of those events, which are witnessed by groups of people?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss religion in the novel.

1) What stories do the characters tell about religion and about God? What do these stories mean? Why does the author include them in the novel?

2) What do Myshkin and Rogozhin say about the religious painting in Rogozhin's house? What is the significance of the painting? Does it reveal anything about Rogozhin's relationship to religion? What about the crosses that the two men exchange? What is the religious significance of the crosses?

3) How does Myshkin react when he learns his benefactor turned to Catholicism before his death? What does this say about Myshkin's attitude toward religion? How is Myshkin's attitude toward religion different than the other characters' attitudes?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the role of family in the characters' lives.

1) How do the characters' families and social positions affect their lives? How do family relationships affect how the characters are accepted by society?

2) How does it affect Nastassya that her parents are killed when she is young? How do the characters' upbringings affect their personalities and attitudes?

3) How do the characters' families try to influence the characters' lives and decisions? What forces do families use to influence family members' behavior.

(see the answer keys)

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