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. With what do the narrator and his sister struggle?

2. Why does Charlotte's father take off in his carriage?

3. What does Sergei notice being loaded?

4. What do the children dare Charlotte to do?

5. To where do the narrator and his sister return?

Short Essay Questions

1. What impresses the narrator about his maternal grandfather?

2. What happens after the children are put to bed?

3. What political importance is lost to the children?

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

5. What happens each time Albertine and Charlotte return to Russia from France?

6. What story captures the narrator's imagination concerning Tsar Nicholas II?

7. What is the narrator allowed to do when he is 14?

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

9. What does Charlotte do during the war and how does she react to her work?

10. What does the narrator say about what makes French women alluring in photographs?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the following:

1. What do you think are the characteristics of a successful novel?

2. Analyze and discuss "Dreams of My Russian Summers" based upon the criteria you decide upon in #1 and judge if Dreams of My Russian Summers is a successful novel.

3. Do you think the criteria for a successful novel should be different if it is written for adults versus young adults? Why or why not? Would most adults consider "Dreams of My Russian Summers" a successful novel? What about young teens?

Essay Topic 2

Titles often play a vital role in making a person decide to read a particular book. Discuss the following:

1. Fully explain why you think "Dreams of My Russian Summers" is titled as such. Do you think it is the best title for the book? Why or why not? Can you think of a better title? Why would you choose it?

2. How important is a title in influencing you to consider reading a book? Explain your answer.

3. Do you think a title needs to have direct relevance to a book's content? Explain your answer.

4. Have you ever read a book that when you finished, you do not understand the relevance of the title? Does it discourage you from "trusting" that particular author again?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,008 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample