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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. When Ivan Ilych gets home from the doctor, what does he do?

2. Is Ivan Ilych in denial about his condition?

3. What has Ivan Ilych used as an escape from reality?

4. What does Ivan Ilych do for a few hours after seeing himself in the mirror for the first time in quite a while?

5. To what event did Peter Ivanovich go to on Friday?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the setting of Chapter 1?

2. What does Ivan stop doing in Chapter 11?

3. How does the author see Ivan's life and why?

4. What does Gerasim symbolize?

5. How does the opium affect Ivan?

6. What explanation does Ivan come up with to explain why his past memories make him feel the way they do?

7. Why does Ivan experience only temporary relief when his family leaves in Chapter 8?

8. Why is Ivan so upset that he didn't get the promotion?

9. Identify the crisis for Ivan in Chapter 5.

10. How is Ivan's sense of power juxtaposed in Chapter 2?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why does Tolstoy choose to use the flashback technique in Chapter 1 when he begins the novel with the funeral? How does Tolstoy's use of this technique help to get the themes across?

Essay Topic 2

Choose one of the major themes ("We die as we live" or "What constitutes a good life?") and explain what is meant by that theme. How does Tolstoy convey this theme throughout the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Choose several passages of good description from "The Death of Ivan Ilych" and explain how the descriptions help the reader to experience the events in the novel.

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