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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. During the summer, how many jobs does Yuri take in order to make ends meet?

2. How does Yuri make money during the NEP period?

3. Whom does Yuri hope to find upon his return to Yuriatin?

4. What does Yuri do to the drunken man sleeping in his house in Yuriatin?

5. How long does Yuri serve as a conscripted field doctor?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Lara return for Yuri's funeral after he refused to follow her to Vladivostok?

2. How does Yuri react to Strelnikov's return?

3. Describe Yuri's death and funeral.

4. What could the rowan tree symbolize?

5. Why are Gordon and Dudorov interested in Yuri's book of poetry?

6. Why does Yuri choose to compare the drops of blood in the snow with rowan berries?

7. Describe what Yuri finds in Lara's house when he returns to Yuriatin.

8. Pasternak ties the love story in Dr. Zhivago to a reference to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. How are the two romantic tragedies similar?

9. Why do you think Yuri stays in Yuriatin for a time instead of leaving immediately to find his wife and family?

10. Why does Yuri not accompany Lara to Vladivostok?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The characters in the book endure the strife of World War I as well as a civil war. Discuss how war affects their lives.

1) How does World War I affect the characters in the book? Cite specific examples.

2) How does the Russian Civil War affect the characters in the book? Cite specific examples.

3) How would Yuri and Lara's affair been different if there had been no war?

Essay Topic 2

How does Yuri's relationship with Tonia differ from his relationship with Lara? What are his motivations in developing each relationship? What influence does each relationship have on his life?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the significance of the rowan tree as described by Yuri. How does it differ from all the other trees that surround it? What does it symbolize to Yuri? Later in the story, Yuri refers to drops of blood in the snow as appearing like fallen rowan berries. What is the significance of the fallen berries?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 835 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample