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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 "Sententious," how many shotguns were kept in the tent of the narrator?

2. What did Merzlakov pretend was hurt so that he would not have to return to work?

3. In "Prosthetic Appliances," what would a guard mark a cell with if the cell was not to receive hot food?

4. What was a "kolymka"?

5. What kind of bird did the narrator say was unafraid of people and could be shot easily? ("Sententious.")

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened to Grigoriev and Potashnikov after the foreman found out that they were not carpenters?

2. What was the "circle" that was created regarding the relationship between work and food in "Shock Therapy"?

3. Why did the convicts that had been in the camps take their bread back to their barracks? ("Major Pugachov's Last Battle")

4. What plans did Bagretsov have for the underwear that he took off of the corpse?

5. Why did Garkunov die at the end of "On Tick"?

6. What hypothesis was tested in the story "Quiet"?

7. What question did the new arrivals ask of the old convicts in "Major Pugachov's Last Battle"?

8. Given that convicts were not allowed to see a thermometer, how did they know when temperatures reached 60 degrees below zero in "Carpenters"?

9. In "The Bathhouse," why was lice a relative concept to most convicts?

10. How did Platonov, in "The Snake Charmer," die?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Objects from the civilian world held great value for the men of Kolyma. Discuss three objects from the civilized world, what was done to keep the object in the possession of the owner, why the owner lost the possession, and how the owner felt about their possession.

Essay Topic 2

The ability to stay warm, for many, was the single line between life and death. Discuss at least three different examples that showed what men in Kolyma would do to get warm.

Essay Topic 3

In "Prosthetic Appliances," the narrator described the dehumanizing actions that guards put laborers through. Men were required to give up even their most intimate needs. Discuss how some men in Kolyma refused to give up what meant the most to them and what happened because of this refusal.

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