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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. How is Korolev convinced to stay overnight to watch over Liza?

2. Who is the only person who can behave comfortably around Bishop Pyotr?

3. How does the bishop feel when he sees his mother?

4. In "The Darling", why does Kukin hate the rain so much?

5. What races through the bishop's head when his colleagues confirm his mother's appearance?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Pyotr different as a person and as a bishop?

2. In "At Christmastime", what kind of family life does Vasilisa's daughter have in Petersburg? How does this affect her relationship with her parents?

3. Describe Belikov from "The Man in a Case" and what makes him so different from everyone else in his village. What influence does he have on the people around him?

4. What does Korolev theorize is the cause of imbalance between the strong and the weak?

5. In "The Bishop", what is Bishops Pyotr's relationship with his mother Marya like when she visits him after nine years?

6. How does the figurative language that describes Aksinya at the wedding reception show her true character?

7. From "The Darling", describe Olga's personality type.

8. In "The Lady with the Little Dog", how does Dmitri Dmitrich Gurov view women?

9. In "The Lady with the Little Dog", why does Dmitri Gurov see Anna Sergeeva differently than all the other women in his life? What makes her so much more appealing?

10. Compare and contrast Olga's husbands and lovers. How are their personality types alike and different? How does this affect Olga as a person?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The main character in "Easter Night" reminds Ieronym, a monk, how all people die, and how his friend Nikolai, another monk, is lucky to die on the eve of Easter. Although Ieronym is trained as a monk, how do his reasoning and his heart play contrasting roles as he grieves over Nikolai.

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Everyone in Chekhov's stories is looking for some form of happiness or contentment. For each it is something different. Write an essay about what makes people happy and how much are they willing to give up to reach that happiness? How does one promote happiness in their lives and how do some inhibit their search for happiness?

(see the answer keys)

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