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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. How does Tolstoy describe Stepan Kasatsky's educational career?

2. Where is Murad fleeing to?

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

4. What does Tolstoy say Pozdnyshev is oblivious to in his marriage?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. Why does Murad want to fight Shamil?

6. Describe Pozdnyshev's relation with his children.

7. What finally halts the travelers?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

To what extent are Tolstoy's stories instructional, and what are they teaching? Describe the educational value of three of Tolstoy's stories.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

What is Tolstoy's relation with his characters and the events he describes? Is he a sympathetic narrator, or does he distance himself from his characters' thoughts and actions?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 624 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample