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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 did Gurdjieff 's father react when misfortunes befell him?

2. Why did the subject of spiritualism make a strong impression on Gurdjieff?

3. What state did Gurdjieff experience, according to Mullah Nassr Eddin's words, after many sleepless nights?

4. When was the Essene Brotherhood established?

5. Where did the second contest that Gurdjieff witnessed take place?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to Gurdjieff into what three categories does contemporary literature fall and how does he describe them?

2. What are Gurdjiefff's thoughts on the grammars of different languages, who composes them and alters them?

3. What did Father Borsh, Gurdjieff's first tutor, think of the experiment in spiritualism using the table?

4. Describe the Essene Brotherhood.

5. What was the relationship between Gurdjieff's father and Dean Borsh?

6. What does Gurdjieff criticize contemporary people for and why?

7. Why did Gurdjieff go to Alexandropol?

8. When and where did Gurdjieff meet Pogossian?

9. Why did people consider Father Borsh peculiar?

10. What did Father Borsh devote his spare time to?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

1) Why was Gurdjieff's father considered very rich and how did he lose his fortune?

2) What did Gurdjieff's father take up as a profession after he was ruined? Why wasn't he successful at it?

3) Why did Gurdjieff's family move to Kars?

4) Choose one of these topics to write on.

Essay Topic 2

1) Who is Abram Yelov, what does he do and where does Gurdjieff meet him? What do they have in common?

2) Describe Abram Yelov and the Aisor people he comes from.

3) What scheme for making money does Gurdjieff come up with in Tiflis? Do you think it was moral of Gurdjieff to carry out that scheme for making money?

4) Choose one of the above topics to write on.

Essay Topic 3

1) Besides having Bogachevsky ( Father Evlissi) as a tutor how else does Gurdjieff benefit from his acquaintance with him?

2) What is "table turning" ? Describe it in as much detail as possible. Did Dean Borsh believe in it?

3) What does Gurdjieff's aunt warn him about? Were her warnings justified?

4) Choose one of the three topics and write about it.

(see the answer keys)

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