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. What does Charlotte's father hear from a peasant?

2. Whose visit to France does Charlotte describe to the narrator?

3. Who is teased ruthlessly in school?

4. What do the narrator and his sister secretly share while in the back of the line?

5. What outrages the narrator concerning France and the Russian revolution?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens after the death of Norbert?

2. About what do others continue to speculate?

3. What is Charlotte's relationship to Gavrilych?

4. How does Albertine surprise Charlotte one day and what is left behind?

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

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

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

8. Where does Albertine retreat?

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

10. What happens when Charlotte meets up with a soldier while she is on her way to Boyarsk?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Oftentimes, a book has more of a character-driven plot rather than action driven, and oftentimes the other way. Some books seem to balance the two. Discuss the following:

1. What do you think it means to say that a plot is character driven? Action driven?

2. How do you think a plot differs if it is character driven versus action driven?

3. Which type of plot do you find more interesting? Why?

4. Do you think it is possible to have a plot where action and character development share equal time? Why or why not.

5. What type of plot do you think "Dreams of My Russian Summers" is? Explain your response.

Essay Topic 3

Upon returning to Russia, the narrator dives into books about France and French history, spending entire days lost in the dust-covered volumes of the public library. His interest in French history has taken his attention away from other childhood things like sports and movies, which has made him a target for bullies in his school. The only person who treats the narrator kindly is a young man in school everyone considers to be a dunce. The narrator's position as an outsider in his school is important to note because the entire novel surrounds the narrator's struggle to discover where he fits in in the world - is he Russian or is he French?

1. Why do you think the narrator became so deeply immerged in studying France and French history? Use examples from "Dreams of My Russian Summers" to support your answer.

2. Do you think that a student who is very different from his or her classmates is always bullied or ostracized? Why or why not? Use examples from "Dreams of My Russian Summers" to support your answer.

3. Why do you think it was so important to the narrator to figure out if he fit into society in Russia or in France? Use examples from "Dreams of My Russian Summers" to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,119 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample