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

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is Lenski working as a tutor?

2. What casts a cloud over the exiled Russian intelligentsia?

3. How does Lett punish the boys?

4. What precaution does Nabokov's father take?

5. What is the response to Nabokov's published book of poems?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the Nabokov family's lifestyle before exile contradict with the father's philosophy? Why might there be this discrepancy? What do you think is the opinion of the father about his family's lifestyle in Western Europe? Use information from the text to support your response.

Essay Topic 2

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?

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 333 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample