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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. Where was Herzen educated?

2. Which principles did Belinsky never abandon?

3. How was Fathers and Children received in Russia?

4. What native influence affected the Russian Populists?

5. How did the Populists differ from Marxists?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the term "superfluous men" mean in Russian literature?

2. Where did Alexander Herzen come from?

3. What qualities did the characters based on Belinsky have?

4. According to Berlin, why was Turgenev attacked from both left and right?

5. What balances did Belinsky strike in his social status and identity?

6. What belief did Tolstoy share with Rousseau?

7. What Western thinkers influenced Populism?

8. Why was Chernychevsky wary of the state?

9. How was Turgenev's work viewed at the end of his life?

10. How did Belinsky see literature's use?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What cultural institutions or customs were Russian writers trying to defend when they were resisting European ideas of progress and Enlightenment? How did authors define the unique "Russian soul?"

Essay Topic 2

Were literature and philosophy separable from politics in 19th-century Russian literature, or were they simply the meditative and artistic versions of political activity? What was it about the cultural moment of 19th-century Russia that turned philosophy and literature into political questions?

Essay Topic 3

How did authors resist the pitfalls of political engagement? Choose three authors or critics and describe their strategies for refusing to engage with the political tensions of their day.

(see the answer keys)

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