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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. In Chapter V, whom does Pahom leave in charge of his homestead while he is gone?
2. How do the Bashkirs make their living?
3. What is surprising about the chief of the Bashkirs?
4. When, in the beginning of Chapter IV, Pahom "stood treat" to the elders, what does this mean he did?
5. How many sons is it implied that Pahom has?
Short Essay Questions
1. When Pahom and his family arrive in the new settlement beyond the Volga, what does he do first, and what is the result?
2. When Pahom asks the Bashkirs for some land, what is their response?
3. What deal does the traveling dealer tell Pahom he was able to get on land from the Bashkir?
4. What procedure do the Bashkirs outline for marking the land that Pahom claims?
5. What causes Pahom to become dissatisfied with his situation in the new settlement?
6. After the chief offers Pahom land, how does Pahom respond, and why?
7. What deal does Pahom strike to buy some land of his own in the settlement beyond the Volga?
8. What is the response of the Bashkirs to Pahom's arrival?
9. What is the price of the land the Bashkirs offer Pahom, and how much land do they offer?
10. How does the text contrast the life of the Bashkirs with the life of Russian peasants, and what is ironic in this description?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
In Chapter I, when the sisters are talking, Pahom's wife tells her sister, "We may live roughly, but at least we are free from anxiety. You live in better style than we do, but though you often earn more than you need, you are very likely to lose all you have. You know the proverb, 'Loss and gain are brothers twain.'" Write an essay that explains the meaning of this quote and why, in the context of this story, it is heavily ironic.
Essay Topic 2
At the beginning of Chapter III, Tolstoy tells the reader that "Pahom was well contented, and everything would have been right if the neighboring peasants would only not have trespassed on his corn-fields and meadows." What evidence argues that this is not true? Why would Tolstoy have had his narrator say this if it is unlikely to be true? How does this affect the reader's understanding of the narrator's tone, and why does it matter?
Essay Topic 3
In April 1935, James Joyce sent his daughter Lucia some of Tolstoy's books; in his accompanying letter, he wrote that "How Much Land Does a Man Need" was "the greatest story that the literature of the world knows." You may not agree with this sentiment, but what do you imagine would cause a writer of Joyce's immense talent to so appreciate this very minor work of Tolstoy's? Write an essay in which you defend at least three separate claims for the merits of this short story.
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This section contains 993 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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