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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. How many years of his life was the narrator ready to forget? ("The Train.")

2. What "large village" was the first destination for the narrator in "The Train"?

3. How many carpenters were allowed to be retained in "Magic"?

4. At the end of "The Train," where did the narrator state that he was returning from?

5. What, in the narrator's language, meant "run off at the mouth"? ("Esperanto.")

Short Essay Questions

1. What did convicts receive as payment for keeping their mouths shut about guards beating them? ("The Chief of Political Control.")

2. What did Shestakov offer the narrator as nourishment to aid in an upcoming escape attempt? ("Condensed Milk.")

3. What "magical powers" did Stukov have? ("Magic")

4. What did the bulldozer, in "Land-Lease," come to be used for?

5. Why did Gusev break the window in the basement of the former monastery? ("My First Tooth.")

6. What game did the lieutenant and the narrator play during "The Train"?

7. Where did the narrator hide his money during his train ride? ("The Train.")

8. What was Kudinov's reasoning for why the convict work gang #4 stood idol on November 12th? ("The Injector.")

9. Why did Golubev watch Stukov's "game" with pleasure? ("Magic.")

10. What about the Senior Supervisor-Ministry of Internal Affairs' name impressed the narrator in "The Lawyer's Plot"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The narrator in "My First Tooth" stated that "even if you can't get something published, it's easier to bear a thing if you write it down. Once you've done that, you can forget." Do you agree with the narrator's statement? Why?/Why not? What is healing about writing something down? How may it help?

Essay Topic 2

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 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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