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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What relationship does Vasili Ivanovich have to the story's narrator?
(a) He is the narrator's brother-in-law.
(b) He is the narrator's former employee.
(c) He is the man who was once in love with the narrator's wife.
(d) He is a man whom the narrator met on a group tour.

2. Who is depicted "in a low-cut gown" on page 4?
(a) Fate.
(b) Mercy.
(c) Justice.
(d) Temperance.

3. Which character is said to have "lustreless eyes and a vague velvety vileness" (6)?
(a) Schramm.
(b) The widow.
(c) Greta.
(d) Schultz.

4. What is Schramm's job title?
(a) Narrative guide.
(b) Rural enjoyment monitor.
(c) Special stimulator.
(d) Official sight illuminator.

5. What does Ivanovich feel is happening as the first night of the tour wears on?
(a) The other group members are starting to dislike Schramm.
(b) The others are becoming more tolerant of his eccentricities.
(c) The others are melding together into one collective being.
(d) The group leader is losing power to Schramm.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Ivanovich get to the train on the morning of his departure?

2. What technique is used in the story's title?

3. Who hosted the charity ball where Ivanovich won the tour?

4. What instrument does one of the men insist on teaching Ivanovich to play?

5. What is the job of the older man who talks to Ivanovich about Russia?

Short Essay Questions

1. For what two reasons does Ivanovich sleep badly on the night before the trip begins?

2. What happens at dinnertime on the first day of the trip?

3. What role does singing seem to play on the tour that Ivanovich is on?

4. How does Ivanovich end up losing the game that they play on the train, and what happens as a consequence?

5. How does Ivanovich end up going on a tour that he does not want to go on?

6. What is frustrating for Ivanovich about the beauty in the landscapes he sees from the train?

7. Describe the leader of the group excursion.

8. On the third day of the tour, what does Ivanovich see that makes him feel the happiness he dreamed he might find on the trip?

9. Who is Schramm and what function does he serve on the trip?

10. What direct characterization of Ivanovich does the narrator offer?

(see the answer keys)

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