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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 Rodrig Ivanovich holding after Cincinnatus reads the letter?

2. Where does Cincinnatus write that he will evolve a third eye?

3. Who enters the cell after Cincinnatus undresses at the end of his second day in prison, snapping Cincinnatus's world back to normal?

4. Which way does Rodion sharpen a pencil?

5. What is Marthe holding when she meets with Cincinnaus?

Short Essay Questions

1. At the end of his first day in prison, what does Cincinnatus think about?

2. Describe Pierre's circus performance.

3. What happens when there start to be complaints about Cincinnatus?

4. After the director reads his formal speech to Cincinnatus, where does Cincinnatus go?

5. After telling his "joke," what does Pierre say about how Cincinnatus looks?

6. What does Cincinnatus hope to get out of seeing Marthe?

7. What does Cincinnatus hear in the prison hallway?

8. What does Cincinnatus describe happening to the world in his dreams?

9. What formula about mortality does Cincinnatus give, which he says applies to everyone?

10. How does Emmie say goodbye to Cincinnatus?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Cincinnatus longs to make a true human connection with his wife. Discuss the role of human connection and its opposite, isolation, in the novel.

1) What inherent conditions of being human contribute to isolating human beings from each other? How do these forces affect Cincinnatus and the novel?

2) How does society and culture work to isolate human beings in the novel and prevent human connections?

3) Are the other characters in the novel truly empty, without a real human being below the surface, as Cincinnatus sometimes declares?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the setting of the prison.

1) Why is the prison set high on a mountain? Why is Cincinnatus the only prisoner? Why is it so large and rambling, with confused passages? What does this contribute to the novel?

2) What does Cincinnatus's cell look like? What do the elements in Cincinnatus's cell represent or indicate? How is Cincinnatus's cell different from Pierre's cell?

3) Why do the cell and prison collapse when Cincinnatus is taken away to be executed?

Essay Topic 3

The ending of the novel is ambiguous, open to more than one interpretation. Discuss the ending of the novel.

1) If the ending of the novel is objectively real, what is happening? Why is Cincinnatus able to walk away? What does this imply about Cincinnatus's character, the culture he is immersed in, and the prison that he has been in? What does it imply about the other characters?

2) If the ending of the novel is merely Cincinnatus's subjective perception, what is happening? Why is Cincinnatus suddenly freed? What does this imply about Cincinnatus's character, the nature of reality, the culture he is immersed in, and the prison he has been in? What does it imply about his crime?

3) What is your personal interpretation of the ending of the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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