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. Soon, the string of nurses transforms into what?

2. This chapter is the first recorded work, published in French in 1936, under the name "Mademoiselle O."

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

4. How does Nabokov open his autobiography?

5. What does this hobby do to him?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Kirill?

2. Describe Nabokov's mother.

3. How does Nabokov's autobiography begin?

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

5. Who is Tamara?

6. He also had several art instructors. Who are they and what does he learn from them?

7. What does Nabokov experience in Crimea?

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

9. Describe Nabokov's ancestors.

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Nabokov and his brother go through a series of nannies, governesses, and tutors.

Part 1) Choose four of these individuals. Describe them, and explain how the children benefit from their services.

Part 2) How does Nabokov, similar to many children, treat the nannies, governesses, and tutors?

Part 3) How does Nabokov's relationship with these individuals reveal his opinion of hired help and those in lower social classes?

Essay Topic 2

With what is Nabokov fascinated, in fact, obsessed? Give examples from the text to support your response. How do the members of his household encourage this obsession?

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)

This section contains 989 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample