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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 and Pogossian secure passage on a ship to Egypt?

2. What had Gurdjieff's family first intended him to be?

3. According to Gurdjieff, contemporary literature falls into which three categories?

4. When did Gurdjieff meet Bogachevsky?

5. With whom did Gurdjieff's father carry on long conversations about philosophy and theology?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Bogachevsky.

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

3. Describe Father Borsh.

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

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

6. Why did Gurdjieff and Pogossian become good friends?

7. What did Father Borsh do sometimes for a rest?

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

9. What was the story of Gilgamesh?

10. What does Gurdjieff mean by "word prostitution" in his criticism of contemporary literature?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

1) Describe the anecdote Gurdjieff tells entitled "The Conversation of the Two Sparrows". What is the lesson contained in the anecdote?

2) What did Gurdjieff think were the shortcomings of the contemporary literature of his day?

3) Recount the story of the family who died from eating poison sausages. Who caused that tragedy and how?

4) Choose one of the above questions and answer it in as much detail as possible.

Essay Topic 2

1) Describe the situation of the European painter who was so highly praised by a German newspaper. Was he really a great painter? What happened in the story?

2) How did a literary critic cause the suicide of a young couple?

3) Describe the music critic Gurdjieff judges as a phony in the book. Why does Gurdjieff feel the man has no right to be a music critic?

4) Choose one of the three questions and answer in as much detail as possible.

Essay Topic 3

1) Describe Abram Yelov: his physical appearance, his peculiarities and his relationship with his parents and friends.

2) What eventually happens to Yelov? How does he become wealthy? How does he lose his fortune? Where does he finally settle?

3) What did Abram Yelov's father do for a living? What did his mother do?

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

(see the answer keys)

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