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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 Diamond trucks and Studebakers haul along the roads in Kolyma? ("Land-Lease.")

2. What were "unfortunate ones" made to think that machine grease was? ("Land-Lease.")

3. From where did the new group of prisoners come from? ("Magic.")

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

5. What did the narrator call "precious things" in "Esperanto"?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What was written on the cell ceiling of the monastery basement? ("My First Tooth.")

3. In "A Child's Drawing," why did the convicts stand in groups of five when guards were dividing out work assignments?

4. According to the narrator in "The Lawyer's Plot," what were the three ways out of the mine?

5. How did the narrator describe Romanov in "The Lawyer's Plot"?

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

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

8. Why was Golubev called to Stukov's home in "Magic"?

9. Why was Sazonov directed to the poorer hut in "My First Tooth"?

10. Why was the narrator afraid to get off of the train at any station other than the Moscow station? ("The Train.")

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Given the dehumanizing circumstances that the narrator relayed throughout the text, many instances of true humanity shone through. Discuss three examples where humanity won out over animalistic behavior in the text.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

As detailed by the text, men were moved constantly and consistently in and out of different work houses. This change set up for many of the men to find themselves separated from human companionship. In what ways did the text show the breakdown of relationships based upon the experiences in Kolyma?

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