2. On page 19, to what does the narrator compare Ivanovich's return journey, away from the lake?
(a) A "soul-shattering nightmare."
(b) A "cruel, demeaning prank."
(c) A "hideous fairy tale."
(d) A "sinister game."

3. What description does the narrator give of the train car on page 5?
(a) It is "cattle-car bare."
(b) It is "unmistakably third-class."
(c) It "echoes like a tin box."
(d) It "reeks of holiday revelry."

4. Whom does the Bureau's song recommend should be "killed" by a walk in the countryside with "the good, the hearty guys" (9)?
(a) The artist.
(b) The loner.
(c) The hermit.
(d) The outsider.

5. How does Ivanovich get to the train on the morning of his departure?
(a) He takes a streetcar.
(b) He takes a taxi.
(c) The narrator drives him.
(d) He walks.

6. In the exclamation "How I hate you, our daily!" what technique is being used (13)?
(a) Allusion.
(b) Amplification.
(c) Synesthesia.
(d) Dialect.

7. After dinner, what do the other tour members insist that Ivanovich do?
(a) Teach them a few words of Russian.
(b) Prove that he knows where they are going.
(c) Practice speaking German more clearly.
(d) Sing a solo.

8. In the description of the "mother-of-pearl claws on his dirty toes," what is the man with whom Ivanovich spends the night being compared to (12)?
(a) A laborer.
(b) An animal.
(c) A statue.
(d) A hidden gem.

9. What does Ivanovich think "must be oriented toward something or someone" (4)?
(a) "Some wonderful, tremulous happiness."
(b) "Things seen in a dream."
(c) "The really good life."
(d) "Creatures still unknown to us."

10. What does the Bureau's song equate with solitude?
(a) Depression.
(b) Intellect.
(c) Independence.
(d) Criminality.

11. What technique is used in the phrase "Wispy clouds—greyhounds of heaven" (6)?
(a) Metaphor.
(b) Synechdoche.
(c) Allegory.
(d) Metonymy.

12. How does the text's language change when the group gets off the train at the last stop on the first day?
(a) The language becomes more circuitous.
(b) The language becomes more lyrical.
(c) The language becomes more grandiloquent.
(d) The language becomes more conversational.

13. What does Ivanovich do to distract himself from "the absurdity and horror of the situation" (6)?
(a) Tries to fall asleep.
(b) Reads his book.
(c) Plays solitaire.
(d) Looks out the window at the scenery.

14. What word does the narrator say describes the appearance of "all creatures still unknown to us" (4)?
(a) "Innocent."
(b) "Cryptic."
(c) "Drowsy."
(d) "Formidable."

15. What is the tour group doing in the passage that says "they raised dust along a highway" (12)?
(a) Fighting.
(b) Digging.
(c) Walking.
(d) Riding in a car.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of the following best characterizes the narrator's attitude toward the absurd process that Ivanovich is told he must follow to sell back the tickets?

2. When the narrator says that the road "undulated," what is being said of this road (12)?

3. One woman is described as "burlesque" (6). From the context, which is most likely true?

4. What is unusual about the four people who work together?

5. What does Ivanovich enjoy reading?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 559 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page)

View a FREE sample