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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 is the only thing that Arkady says Bazarov cares for?

2. Who overhears Bazarov lecturing Arkady on old ways of thinking?

3. What does Arkady say Pavel was a victim of?

4. Who have Arkady and Bazarov received an invitation from?

5. What did Pavel love as a young man?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do you think changes Arkady's attitude towards his father?

2. What happens at the governor's ball?

3. How does Bazarov and Arkady's ideas begin to differ in chapter 9?

4. What comment do you think Turgenev is making about love in this book?

5. How does Bazarov contract typhus?

6. What is Nikolai's current state?

7. How do Pavel and Bazarov's opinion of the Russian aristocracy differ?

8. How does Barradov struggle with his feelings towards Anna?

9. How does Turgenev end his novel?

10. What plans do Arkady and Bazarov make in this chapter?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Exanine the differences between Arkady and Bazarov's upbringings. Do you think it makes a big difference to his relationship with his father that Arkady mother died early? How has Vassily's doting affected Bazarov's character? Were they are true nihilists or did their upbringings prevent them from genuinely thinking in this way?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the novel's chronological setting.

1) What were the main concerns during the 1850s. How does Turgenev express these concerns?

2) In what ways do you think the novels meaning would change if it was set in today's society?

Essay Topic 3

The main themes in the novel are redemption through love, generational gaps and true human nature. Take one of these themes and discuss how Turgenev expresses them in the book? Why do you think these themes were important concerns in 1850s Russia?

(see the answer keys)

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