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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. Which topic is on the schedule of events for the fête?

2. Whom does Nicholas visit in Part II, Chapter 2?

3. Who is Shatov?

4. Who does Lebyatkin live with?

5. What does Mrs. Stavrogin ask her son when he arrives?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do we find out whether Peter intentionally circulated rumors about Dasha to instigate his father?

2. What is Julia Lembke's relationship with the youth of her town?

3. What do we know about the poem, A Noble Character?

4. What objections are raised to murdering Shatov, and who raises them?

5. What does Mrs. Stavrogin find out about Nicholas' relationship with Mss Lebyatikin?

6. What plans does Peter seem to be making at the end of Part II, Chapter 4?

7. What is Peter planning with regard to Shatov?

8. How many people end up involved in the conversation between Mrs. Stavrogin and Shatov at the beginning of Chapter 3 in Part I?

9. What happens when Peter mentions that Stepan believes that Dasha has fallen into disrepute in Switzerland?

10. Describe Nicholas Stavrogin's status in Russian society.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is there a consistent morality in The Possessed? Do violent people always pay a price for their acts of violence? Are criminals and scoundrels always caught and punished, or made to suffer somehow? Is innocent suffering redeemed?

Essay Topic 2

Are Shatov and Stepan Verkhovensky heroes in The Possessed? Why or why not? Are Peter Verkhovensky and Stavrogin heroes? Are they villains?

Essay Topic 3

Is Shatov's wife's pregnancy a source of real hope in The Possessed, or is the hope undermined by her infidelity and Shatov's murder? Does the childbirth redeem anyone in the book?

(see the answer keys)

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