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. Why does Ivan Ilych try to replace thoughts of death?

2. In Chapter 6, is Ivan able to replace his thoughts of death?

3. Who comes to visit Ivan Ilych in Chapter 5?

4. When Ivan Ilych looks in the mirror some time after greeting his brother-in-law, what does he see for the first time?

5. How does Ivan Ilych's view his life?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How is it possible that Ivan hasn't seen how thin and yellow he looks until his brother-in-law arrives?

3. What does Gerasim symbolize?

4. What sort of world has Ivan left behind? Give 3 examples to support your idea(s).

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

6. What is ironic about the opening of Chapter 3 when it states that 1880 is "the hardest year of Ivan's life?"

7. Describe Gerasim.

8. Discuss an example of foreshadowing in Chapter 7.

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

10. In Chapter 11, what does Ivan reveal about himself when he was younger, and what happened to it?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does Ivan learn from his suffering and death? How does Tolstoy use suffering and death in "The Death of Ivan Ilych?"

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

Is Gerasim's being a peasant significant in the novel? Does it affect how he sees the world and how his character develops?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 901 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample