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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 does Ivan Ilych believe his illness began?

2. What does the doctor ignore?

3. Who says, "death will come to everyone as God's will?"

4. What game does Ivan Ilych like to play?

5. Why is it ironic that Ivan resents that his death is trivial?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Ivan make his pain worse?

2. At the moment Ivan admits to himself that he is dying, how does he feel toward his family?

3. How does Gerasim view death?

4. What does Ivan's self-revelation turn into?

5. Why does Ivan fall into a profound depression?

6. Explain how Ivan can be said to be in the depression stage of dying in Chapter 10.

7. What is the climax, or turning point, in "The Death of Ivan Ilych?"

8. Compare and contrast Ivan's wife and Gerasim in Chapter 8.

9. How does Ivan cope with the knowledge that he is dying?

10. Explain how reactions to Ivan's death by Gerasim and Ivan's son differ from the reactions of all the other characters in Chapter 1.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the form that foreshadowing takes in "The Death of Ivan Ilych." How is the foreshadowing accomplished? Is the foreshadowing subtle or obvious?

Essay Topic 2

What is the discontinuity between how character's act and what they feel throughout the novel? Why is how they act different than how they feel?

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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