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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 did the narrator, in "Sententious," claim was the first pity to return?

2. What did Merzlakov steal when he "miraculously managed" to get a stable-hand job at the camps?

3. In "A Piece of Meat," how did Golubev always sleep?

4. What did the narrator claim was "a relative concept"? ("In the Bathhouse")

5. How long had Merzlakov been in the camp (according to "Shock Therapy")?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Platonov decide to tell the thieves a story? ("The Snake Charmer.")

2. What "piece of meat" did Golubev offer up in sacrifice? ("A Piece of Meat.")

3. What did Savelev do after finding Ivanovich hung himself?

4. Why did Merzlakov fake a back injury in "Shock Therapy"?

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

6. In "Sententious," who did the narrator say that he envied?

7. What notations did the guards, described in "Prosthetic Appliances", use to show that a convict would not receive hot food and/or bread?

8. What materials were needed to make the playing cards that the men in "On Tick" used?

9. Why was the Siberian dwarf cedar called a "weatherman" by the narrator?

10. Who did Gloubev recognize in the hospital as he was recovering from his appendectomy? ("A Piece of Meat.")

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 harshness of work in the camps was described through the severe actions that convicts would go to to avoid it. Describe three examples where convicts sacrificed themselves, in one way or another, to avoid work in the camps.

Essay Topic 3

In "Quiet," an particular irony was set up. One of the camp administrators believed that "a man will eat and in gratitude work better for the state." In what circumstances did this statement prove to be false? In what circumstances did this statement prove to be true? What was the determining factor in the truth behind the statement?

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