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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. At Luzhin's school, what teacher is out with a cold?

2. What does Luzhin's fiancee's mother tell him that he should do, when he comes to her home early and only she is there?

3. How old is Luzhin when he returns to the German resort where he went to with his father when recovering from his illness?

4. Why have Luzhin's parents put off telling him that they've enrolled him in a school?

5. On the first game that Luzhin's opponent doesn't beat him, what is the result?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Luzhin react to being caught cutting school?

2. How does Valentinov view Luzhin?

3. Who does Luzhin nearly run into on the first day he skips school?

4. Why does Luzhin's father decide that the boy he wants to write about, based on his son, will die young?

5. How does Luzhin feel about playing chess blind?

6. How does Luzhin's future wife feel about introducing him to her family?

7. Why does Luzhin hide during his father's party?

8. What does Luzhin ask his fiancee to do, on the second day she comes to his Berlin chess tournament?

9. Before playing with his son, how does Luzhin's father consider his own chess abilities?

10. In Chapter 2, what school subject does Luzhin show interest in?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the portrayal of women in the novel.

1) What is Luzhin's mother like? How does she represent women in the novel? How does she compare with Luzhin's aunt?

2) What is Luzhin's wife like? How does she represent women in the novel? What are her priorities and abilities?

3) How are minor women characters portrayed in the novel? What do women, in general, seem to be like in the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss identity and personhood in the novel.

1) Luzhin's identity is wrapped up in chess. Why and how?

2) Does Luzhin fit the definition of a person, as other characters perceive it? How does Luzhin not fit into others' ideas of a "person"?

3) What gives Luzhin identity besides chess playing? What elements add to his identity?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Luzhin's character.

1) How is Luzhin different from other people? What are the consequences to him in his life?

2) Why is Luzhin obsessed with chess? What does Luzhin see and enjoy that most people don't?

3) What kind of world would Luzhin be happy in? In what ways is Luzhin mismatched to society, and why?

(see the answer keys)

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