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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. What do the adults not understand about Charlotte?

2. How does the narrator take it upon himself to continue his information-gathering about Russia and France?

3. Where is Fyodor taken for reintegration?

4. In what context does the narrator imagine the French villages his grandmother describes?

5. Why is the narrator allowed to stay when they discuss Charlotte in the kitchen in Chapter 8?

Short Essay Questions

1. What memories of women does the narrator think about?

2. How does missing a train save Charlotte and her children's lives?

3. What does the narrator find interesting about the French play, "Les Femmes Savantes"?

4. What happens when the narrator and his sister go for oranges?

5. What does the narrator say his grandmother does when the narrator looks at the photo of the scruffy woman?

6. What is the story does the narrator relate about Charlotte's rock collection?

7. What story about Charlotte and Fyodor does the narrator recall?

8. What happens after Fyodor is arrested?

9. What political importance is lost to the children?

10. Why does the narrator break into his grandmother's Siberian Suitcase?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Often, authors will write about "what they know," and sometimes knowing a little about the author makes the books more interesting. Discuss the following:

1. Research and give a brief biographical sketch of Andrei Makine.

2. What in Makine's background may have helped him in writing "Dreams of My Russian Summers"? What may have influenced the way he depicts various characters and scenes?

3. Do you think there is always some of the author's own life in his/her novels? Why or why not? Give examples.

Essay Topic 2

Over the course of "Dreams of My Russian Summers", the narrator grows as a person in both complexity and understanding. Dreams of My Russian Summers might be considered a slice of the narrator's larger story of his "coming of age." It might be said that Dreams of My Russian Summers is a "bildungsroman" of the narrator. Discuss the following:

1. Define Bildungsroman, or "Coming of Age," and give several examples from literature you have read.

2. Trace and analyze the character of the narrator as he changes from a more carefree, innocent boy to a wiser, young man. What are the significant events that change him?

3. After thoroughly analyzing the narrator's growth throughout "Dreams of My Russian Summers", do you think "Dreams of My Russian Summers" could be considered the narrator's Coming of Age story? Why or why not?

4. Are there any other characters in "Dreams of My Russian Summers" who go through a Coming of Age experience? Who? Why do you think so?

Essay Topic 3

1. What is foreshadow? How many incidences of foreshadow are in "Dreams of My Russian Summers"? How does foreshadow contribute to a book's suspense?

2. Discuss an example of foreshadow in "Dreams of My Russian Summers" including why you believe it is foreshadow. Include examples from the book and your own life to illustrate your answer.

3. How do you think most people react to uncertainty in their lives? Use examples from "Dreams of My Russian Summers" and your own live to support your opinion.

(see the answer keys)

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