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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. Who does Petrushka become friends with?

2. What does Nozdroyov tell the men in town he helped Tchitchikov do?

3. Who tries to convince Andrey not to leave his job?

4. What do the men of N start to think Tchitchikov is?

5. What is the relationship between Platon and Skudronzhoglo?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do Tchitchikov and Platon set out on a journey together?

2. What happens when Tchitchikov tries to go to the governor's house?

3. Why do the men of N. decide they do not want to be associated with Tchitchikov?

4. What gossip does Sofia tell Anna?

5. Why is Tchitchikov thrown in prison in Part 2, Chapter 5?

6. What reason does Tchitchikov give for why he wants to buy General Betrishtchev's dead souls?

7. How does Tchitchikov feel about General Betrishtchev when he meets him?

8. What does Skudronzhoglo tell Tchitchikov about getting rich?

9. Why is Tchitchikov apprehensive about buying land from Hlobuev?

10. What does Andrey do for work?

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

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?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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