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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. After his retirement, from what does Dimitri Nabokov begin to suffer?

2. What is Nabokov's favorite medium?

3. What does Nabokov reveal about his mind?

4. What does this thriving upper-class tourist industry offer?

5. What is their mother's reaction when she sees that her children have opened the presents from their stockings early and poorly rewrapped them?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is happening in the science of butterflies?

2. Why is the couple allowed to be on their own.

3. What does he learn about himself, regarding Russian poets?

4. What does Max do, regarding the watchdogs?

5. How does young Nabokov react to rumor that his father has challenged someone to a duel?

6. Why does Mademoiselle want to leave the family?

7. How does Nabokov meet Mademoiselle after she leaves Russia?

8. What happens to the family once they leave Russia?

9. What schooling does Nabokov's father receive?

10. What does the Russian revolution do to most of Russia's writers and artists?

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 speaks mainly of his brother and himself as experiencing a liberal education, even though Nabokov has two sisters.

Part 1) Why are they rarely mentioned?

Part 2) What training would be important for a girl in this society?

Part 3) What is the role of women at this time?

Essay Topic 3

This autobiographical work ends with the family leaving on a boat for the United States.

Part 1) What might be the reason they decide to immigrate to the United States?

Part 2) What struggles might the family encounter? Why?

Part 3) Will Nabokov be successful in the United States? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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