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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. What special gift did Nikolai have as a monk?

2. What feeling does Gusev have before he dies?

3. What happens at Pelageya's cottage on Easter?

4. The university Stepanych works at can be described as __________.

5. What does Vanka remember about Christmastime?

Short Essay Questions

1. What makes akathists so difficult?

2. Describe how Olga Ivanovna and her friends treat Osip. How does this turn on Olga?

3. Compare and contrast Mashenka and Matvei's reaction to Vasya's letter that he is returning home.

4. What does Ivan Velikopolsky in "The Student" see in the present that reminds him of the past? How does he connect the two?

5. Describe Yegor and Pelageya's relationship. How do they interact? How do they feel about one another?

6. When a fellow soldier asks Gusev if he is not afraid to die, what is his response? How does his response reflect his character?

7. What changes are observed in Nikolai Stepanych's lectures from the past to the present?

8. Dr. Andrei Yefimych states that Ivan Dmitrich is "interested in precisely the right things." What are these right things?

9. What stops Nevyrazimov from moving up in the world?

10. What will happen to Vanka at the end of his story?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

From "A Boring Story", describe Katya and Stepanych's relationship. Beyond a father and daughter, how do their struggles bond them? What is their struggle?

Essay Topic 2

From "A Boring Story", Stepanych begins to realize that he is aging and changing, but he holds hope. What is Stepanych in hopes of and why?

Essay Topic 3

In "The House with the Mezzanine", Lida is called "remarkable" by her mother and sister. Write and essay of what it means to be "remarkable"? What does it take to be "remarkable"? By whose standards is someone "remarkable"? How "remarkable" is Lida? Do her mother and sister really value Lida as a "remarkable" person?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,330 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample