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 young Vladimir's main concern?

2. What is happening to the science of butterflies at this time?

3. How do the aristocrats confront the ocean waves?

4. Mademoiselle threatens several times to leave. Why does she end up staying?

5. Who accompanies Vladimir and his companion on the beach?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Mademoiselle want to leave the family?

2. What does Max do, regarding the watchdogs?

3. Nabokov is surprised to learn of what happens to several of his art teachers in the future. Why?

4. What is Nabokov's favorite Captain Mayne Reid novel? Why?

5. Describe Nabokov's brother, Sergey.

6. What are Vladimir and Colette caught doing?

7. Who is Kirill?

8. What is cause is Vladimir's passion?

9. What memory leads to an important memory about his father?

10. How does Nabokov describe the poet?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Nabokov has always had difficulty sleeping.

Part 1) Why?

Part 2) What is the purpose of an autobiography?

Part 3) What is the purpose of this autobiography?

Essay Topic 2

Nabokov matures throughout this book.

Part 1) What evidence is there from the text that Nabokov is changing physically and emotionally?

Part 2) How does his father handle Nabokov's intimate questions, regarding changes in his body?

Part 3) Describe his relationships with girls. How do these relationships change as he grows up?

Essay Topic 3

However, even though Nabokov despises the Bolsheviks, he is determined to retain his Russian identity and to become proficient as a Russian author.

Part 1) Why is this important to him?

Part 2) How is becoming a Russian novelist a struggle at Cambridge?

Part 3) Predict where his works will be more popular, in Russia or Western Europe and the United States? Why?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 939 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample