View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What detail is the narrator uncertain if he is remembering correctly?

2. Where is Ivanovich told he will need to get a "certificate of non-absence from the city for the summertime" (3)?

3. After dinner, what do the other tour members insist that Ivanovich do?

4. Why does the group make Ivanovich eat a cigarette butt?

5. What relationship does Vasili Ivanovich have to the story's narrator?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the difference between the narrative descriptions of people and of nature in this story?

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

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

4. What does Ivanovich do as soon as he sits down in the train on the first morning of the trip, and what is the group's reaction?

5. 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?

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

7. What does Ivanovich do at each of the train stations on the first day of the trip, and what does this show about his character?

8. Why is it such a relief to Ivanovich when the tour group finally stops for the night at an inn?

9. With whom does Ivanovich spend the first night, and how does this person keep Ivanovich awake?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about the idea of "hope" in "Cloud, Castle, Lake." Support your assertions with evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that affirms, refutes, or qualifies the following statement: "Vasili Ivanovich is the only character in 'Cloud, Castle, Lake' who can be said to be fully 'awake.'" Use textual evidence to support your claims.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about the significance of Ivanovich's status as a Russian refugee in "Cloud, Castle, Lake." Be sure to support your assertions with evidence from the text.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,015 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample