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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 piece of furniture is unfinished in Manilov's study?

2. What color are Manilov's eyes?

3. What is the name of the clerk Tchitchikov must speak to in order to complete his transaction?

4. What does Tchitchikov order for dinner in Part 1: Chapter 4?

5. Where is Tchitchikov going when he runs into Manilov?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Tchitchikov make himself feel better about not going after the young girl he meets?

2. Why do the people of N. take such an interest in Tchitchikov?

3. What does Tchitchikov ask the servant at the hotel?

4. Why does Plyushkin sell his dead souls to Tchitchikov?

5. Why does become Nozdroyov become angry with Tchitchikov and attacks him?

6. How does the narrator describe Nozdroyov's character?

7. Describe Plyushkin's appearance.

8. How does Tchitchikov feel when looking at his list of acquired souls?

9. How does Tchitchikov spend his first day in N?

10. Why is Plyushkin so miserable?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is significant about the houses of the people that Tchitchikov visits? Why do you think the author gives such vivid descriptions of the houses and their furnishings? How do the homes reflect their owners? Use examples from the text to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 2

Why is it significant that Tchitchikov is able to get out of jail at the end of the novel? Why does Gogol make it so his main character never learns his lesson? Does this ending surprise you? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

What is the purpose of having a biased narrator with a personality and opinions of his own? Does the narrator skew the reader's view of characters and events in the book? How is the book different once the biased narrator is gone?

(see the answer keys)

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