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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What did the narrator, in "Sententious," claim was the first pity to return?
(a) Pity for loved-ones.
(b) Pity for mankind.
(c) Pity for animals.
(d) Pity for self.

2. Fedya Shapov had been a member of what league prior to becoming a prisoner?
(a) The Young Communist League.
(b) The Youth League of Russia.
(c) The Imperialist League.
(d) The Red Power League.

3. Who was shot in "Quiet"?
(a) The guard.
(b) The food server.
(c) The guard's dog.
(d) The sectarian.

4. How did the narrator, in "Sententious," perceive the tent in which he slept?
(a) As a fog.
(b) As a gift.
(c) As a place of comfort.
(d) As a comfortable bed.

5. What did the narrator claim was a "special joy for a convict"? ("Dry Rations")
(a) To prepare food.
(b) To eat with friends.
(c) To eat alone.
(d) To have thick soup.

6. What did the narrator refuse to give up at the end of "Prosthetic Appliances"?
(a) His leg.
(b) His hand.
(c) His coat.
(d) His soul.

7. What did the narrator always fail to do in time for dinner? ("Sententious.")
(a) Make bread.
(b) Boil water.
(c) Change clothes.
(d) Bathe.

8. What did the prisoners refuse to eat in the dining hall and take back to their barracks? ("Major Pugachov's Last Battle.")
(a) Bread.
(b) Kasha.
(c) Soup.
(d) Crackers.

9. What did the narrator say "materialized out of nowhere"? ("Sententious.")
(a) Bread.
(b) Song.
(c) Food.
(d) People.

10. In "In the Night," what was Glebov in no hurry to swallow?
(a) Bread.
(b) Biscuits.
(c) Jam.
(d) Grapes.

11. What did Merzlakov steal when he "miraculously managed" to get a stable-hand job at the camps?
(a) Oats.
(b) Eggs.
(c) Flour.
(d) Wheat.

12. From what book were the cards made from that were used in "On Tick"?
(a) Matchbooks.
(b) A book by Shakespeare.
(c) A bible.
(d) A book by Victor Hugo.

13. How many axe handles were the men in "Carpenters" required to make every day?
(a) 30.
(b) 90.
(c) 70.
(d) 50.

14. To what Shakespearean character was the taker of "meat" compared?
(a) Antonio.
(b) Shylock.
(c) MacBeth.
(d) Lorenzo.

15. What did Andrei Platonov do prior to being in the camps?
(a) He was a novelist.
(b) He was a doctor.
(c) He was a lawyer.
(d) He was a movie scriptwriter.

Short Answer Questions

1. What mountain spring did the narrator and his three companions reach at the beginning of "Dry Rations"?

2. In "Carpenters," for how long had the fog been so thick that a man was not able to be seen from "two paces away"?

3. What was no convict able to have of his own? ("In the Bathhouse.")

4. What did the narrator say that he refused to listen to? ("Sententious.")

5. What did the narrator claim had left all men, in "Dry Rations," because of the long fasts that they suffered through?

(see the answer keys)

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