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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. Who does Luzhin's future wife make him think of, when he first meets him?

2. Where does Luzhin sit during recess?

3. How long does Luzhin stay at his aunt's?

4. What does Luzhin do when he goes up to his room after he's met his future wife's mother?

5. 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?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What ability does Luzhin compare his ability to read chess notation with?

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

5. How does Luzhin senior's wife react when he has to go to town for the day?

6. What problem does Luzhin have getting to his game with his final rival?

7. Describe Luzhin's future wife when he meets her in Germany.

8. How does Luzhin's father feel when he finally hears that his son is a prodigy?

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

10. How does Luzhin respond to his fiancee's parents' home?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss art and reflections of reality in the novel.

1) How is Luzhin's father's writing a reflection of reality? How is it a projection of his father's desires, a world of wish fulfillment? How does his writing compare to reality?

2) How do Luzhin's drawings reflect reality, and how do they reflect his perception of reality?

3) How is Luzhin's chess playing an art, and how is it not an art? How does it relate and compare to music? How does it reflect reality? How does it show Luzhin's perception of reality and his own wish fulfillment?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the relationships of parents and children in the novel.

1) How does Luzhin relate to his father? How does this relationship affect Luzhin throughout his life? How does this relationship evoke the relationship of Luzhin's father and grandfather?

2) What do parents expect from their children in the novel? What does Luzhin's father expect from him? What about his mother? What do Luzhin's wife's parents expect from her?

3) How do parents and children feel about each other? Do they love each other? What other emotions are related to parents and children?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss social norms and expectations in the novel.

1) How does Luzhin fit into society, and how do the norms and expectations of society affect him?

2) How are the normal, everyday tasks that people undertake different for Luzhin? How does this affect his ability to fit into society?

3) How do Luzhin's in-laws represent social norms and expectations, and how do they perceive Luzhin?

(see the answer keys)

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