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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 what city did the Party cancel the May Day parade in 1990?

2. Who was a video healer who appeared on state television?

3. Which Russian author wrote about Sakhalin Island?

4. Where did Yelena Chukovskaya send an article appealing to the government to return Solzhenitsyn's citizenship?

5. Who was a self-proclaimed pioneer of Soviet capitalism who set up a private commodities brokerage?

Short Essay Questions

1. After watching the film "Wall Street" at the Moscow Higher Party School, how did Remnick know that Communist ideology was dead?

2. What were three omens that occurred in September 1990?

3. How did Yeltsin win his first battle inside the "horror house" of the Soviet system?

4. Who was the free man Remnick met on Sakhalin island?

5. What was different about the May Day parade in Moscow in 1990?

6. Why did the publishers of the Novy Mir not know what to expect when Gorbachev suggested that the Soviet Writers' Union decide whether Solzhenitsyn should be published in the Soviet Union?

7. How did one of Parkomenko's investigative reports cause a terrific scandal?

8. Describe Shcharansky's celebration of Hanukkah in Perm-35.

9. What happened when the tanks were sent to Lithuania in January 1991?

10. When did healers, mystics, and "holy fools" usually come to prominence?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

During the Gorbachev era, there was loosening of restrictions and a small shift toward truth. Compare the Stalin era and the Gorbachev era, and show what changed, what did not change, and how, in some ways, the Gorbachev era retained elements from Stalin's days. Use examples from the book.

Essay Topic 2

In 1988, threats against the Jews resurfaced. Using examples from Lenin's Tomb, discuss why there was such an anti-Semitic feeling off and on during the history of the Soviet Union and how events in the empire influenced the renewed hatred for the Jews.

Essay Topic 3

The first piece of writing to appear in the Soviet Union by Solzhenitsyn in three decades was a piece titled "How Can We Revitalize Russia." Explain how Solzhenitsyn wanted to solve the problems in the Soviet Union and why the Party felt so threatened by his views.

(see the answer keys)

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