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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. Besides teaching his students to speak the language that he teaches, what does Pnin occasionally treat his class to?

2. What does Pnin like to put in the Clementses' washing machine?

3. Why was Pnin made to sit in his bed for weeks with nothing to do when he was a child?

4. Why is Pnin traveling at the book opens?

5. What does Pnin ask the librarian in Chapter 3?

Short Essay Questions

1. How well does Pnin speak English? Describe in detail.

2. Describe Pnin's fellow professor, Oleg Komarov.

3. What is an example of one of Pnin's less pleasant quirks? Describe in detail.

4. How does Laurence Clements feel about Pnin staying in his house?

5. What does Pnin discover from the librarian that is surprising to him in Chapter 3?

6. How does Pnin meet and marry Liza?

7. Why has Pnin always been a constant mover?

8. What does the library request of Pnin in Chapter 3?

9. What does Pnin almost encounter when he comes down the stairs during the Clementses' party in Chapter 2?

10. What do Joan and Pnin learn they have in common from their discussion in Chapter 2?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Research the Bolshevik Revolution and study how it could have affected Pnin. What is a revolution? Why did the Bolshevik Revolution happen? What year did the Bolshevik Revolution occur? Who was Vladimir Lenin and what did he have to do with the Bolshevik Revolution? Why would Pnin want to leave Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution?

Essay Topic 2

The author of "Pnin" emphasizes a certain amount of dullness in the academic life. Examine the premise of dullness of academic life in the novel "Pnin". Does this dull feeling fit Pnin's personality and character? Are the other professors at the college depicted as dull? What do the students do that is the same every year? How are the butterflies depicted? Why does this particularly year have a dark undertone?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the character of Victor, and examine how he affects Pnin's life.

Part 1) What kind of person is Victor? What are his strengths and weaknesses?

Part 2) How has Victor affected Pnin?

Part 3) What kind of relationship do Pnin and Victor have?

(see the answer keys)

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