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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. To what does Nabokov compare existence?
(a) The sands in an hourglass.
(b) The seconds on a clock.
(c) A rollercoaster ride.
(d) A cradle rocking on the edge of an abyss.

2. To whom does Nabokov feel the strongest bond of kinship?
(a) His mother's paternal grandfather, Nikolay Illarionovich Kozlov.
(b) His mother's maternal grandfather, Nikolay Illarionovich Kozlov.
(c) His father's paternal grandfather, Nikolay Illarionovich Kozlov.
(d) His father's maternal grandfather, Nikolay Illarionovich Kozlov.

3. In exile in America, when a ranger or marshal spots him traipsing into the backwoods, net in hand, what is he asked?
(a) What the net is for.
(b) Where his guide is.
(c) What he is doing in the woods.
(d) If he has a fishing license.

4. How do the aristocrats confront the ocean waves?
(a) By diving in.
(b) On a boat.
(c) With the help of professional bathers.
(d) By swimming in groups.

5. Why, when Nabokov is a child, is he terrified of the dark?
(a) He is afraid of monsters under his bed.
(b) He thinks burglars will come into his room.
(c) He seems to lose himself in the pitch black.
(d) He is afraid his home will catch on fire.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who are Miss Norcott and Miss Hunt?

2. What does Young Vladimir discover in the family's attic?

3. They board the Sud-Express and disembark in what town?

4. What is a battle against the yawning darkness?

5. Each day, when he awakes, how can young Vladimir tell what kind of day it is?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the process used to create this book.

2. Where do they head to from Paris? What do they do when they get there?

3. How does Nabokov describe the final years in Europe?

4. What schooling does Nabokov's father receive?

5. Who is Tamara?

6. Describe Nabokov's ancestors.

7. When does Nabokov begin to write poetry?

8. Nabokov reveals that his mind always associates sounds with colors. How does his mother react to this unusual sensibility?

9. What is the process Nabokov goes through to create a poem?

10. How do the Nabokovs travel from St. Petersburg to Paris?

(see the answer keys)

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