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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does she tell him when he is finished reciting the poem?

2. What is happening in the larger cities of Western Europe?

3. When does Nabokov begin to write poetry?

4. Why is Lenski working as a tutor?

5. What does Nabokov say they had lost that winter in St. Petersburg?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Nabokov lives a bourgeois, aristocratic life.

Part 1) What evidence from the text suggests this?

Part 2) When and why does this lifestyle end?

Part 3) How does Nabokov handle this change in lifestyle?

Essay Topic 2

Nabokov seems to have a close relationship with his father.

Part 1) Describe their relationship.

Part 2) Compare and contrast Nabokov's relationship with his father and his relationship with his mother.

Part 3) What are possible reasons for the differences in the two relationships?

Essay Topic 3

Nabokov gives a brief history of his maternal and paternal ancestors.

Part 1) Describe his paternal and maternal ancestors.

Part 2) Compare and contrast these ancestors.

Part 3) What can one learn about Nabokov from this information?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 270 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample