View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Boris afraid for when the Tsar meets with the abbot?

2. How old is Kiy in the beginning of "Russka"?

3. Who is the monastery dedicated to that is built on land Melei gives to the priest?

4. What does Stephen change for the priests' sake?

5. Who leads the rebels against Russka?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Ivan's story.

2. How have conditions changed by 1066 AD?

3. What problem is Boris Bobrov having with his estate and how does he solve it?

4. What is the political situation in Russia when the novel leaps forward to 1647?

5. How does Stephen die?

6. Describe Yanka's pregnancy and marriage.

7. What is the Bobrov family up to in 1647?

8. Where does the novel begin?

9. What happens when Bobrov's wife gets pregnant in his absence?

10. Describe Andrei Karpenko's relationship with Maryushka.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Rutherfurd maintain the reader's interest for nearly 1,000 pages? What plot strategies, what suspense, or what kinds of stories does Rutherfurd include, to keep his readers zooming along? Where is he most successful? Where does the narrative slow down?

Essay Topic 2

What foreign ideas, technologies, or other developments had the strongest influence?

Essay Topic 3

How would "Russka" be different if it were told more from the perspective of the women in the prominent families? What experiences dose Rutherfurd allude to, but not elaborate on, in the realm of women?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 613 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample