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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. Why is it urgent for Vasili and Nikita and Mukhorty to reach their destination in the snow storm?

2. How does Tolstoy say Stepan Kasatsky feels about the Emperor?

3. What was Pozdnyshev's justification for killing his wife?

4. Who is Stepan Kasatsky?

5. Who gives the travelers directions?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to Vasili and Nikita after they set out from Grishkino?

2. Why does Father Sergius ask to be reassigned to a hermitage?

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

4. Describe Stepan Kasatsky' personality.

5. What is Nikita's relationship with Mukhorty?

6. How does Stepan acquire the name Father Sergius?

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

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

9. Why does Murad want to fight Shamil?

10. What does Murad ask Prince Vorontsov for after he surrenders?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the theme of the child function in "Family Happiness"? Who acts like a child? How do actual children affect the characters?

Essay Topic 2

Based on evidence from three stories of your choice, describe Tolstoy's view of religion and spirituality. What kind of God does Tolstoy invoke in his stories? What religion informs this divinity?

Essay Topic 3

How does Tolstoy treat the relationship between Russians and others--Chechen, Tartars, Cossacks, Turks? What make Russians Russian? What distinguishes them from the others, and what is the basis for hostility when there his hostility? What stance does Tolstoy take in presenting these relationships? (Sympathetic, critical, nationalistic?)

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 647 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample