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. Where does Murad stay while he is in flight?

2. How does Pozdnyshev describe his and his wife's courtship?

3. How does Tolstoy describe Countess Korotkova?

4. Who is Mukhorty?

5. What did the Tsar suggest to do with Murad?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Pozdnyshev realize as soon as he kills his wife?

2. What happens the first time Nikita and Vasili get off the road?

3. Describe Pozdnyshev's relation with his children.

4. What did the Tsar decide with regard to Murad?

5. What effect does Trukhachevsky's arrival have on Pozdnyshev's marriage?

6. Why did Hadji Murad set out for Russia?

7. How did Father Sergius come to be sent to Siberia?

8. What does Tolstoy mean by ending the story with Marya Dmitrievna screaming 'you are all cutthroats'?

9. Describe Stepan Kasatsky's relationship with Countess Korotkova.

10. Why does Murad want to fight Shamil?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the essential "Russianness" in Tolstoy's stories? Describe it in three of his short stories. Does Tolstoy show it by contrast with other cultures, or by description, or some other means?

Essay Topic 2

How does Tolstoy see marriage? Analyze marriages in three stories, and describe the uses, benefits and disadvantages of marriage in Tolstoy's writing.

Essay Topic 3

How do characters in three of Tolstoy's stories handle depression? What is it typically caused by, and what are the effective solutions to it?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 642 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample