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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. Why doesn't Luzhin hide his chess set?

2. Why do Luzhin's in-laws spend time visiting at the Luzhin's house?

3. What does Luzhin do when he gets into the cab with his new wife after the wedding reception?

4. What artistic medium does Luzhin prefer?

5. On what floor is the apartment Luzhin's in-laws have rented for the newlyweds?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Luzhin think when the lights come on again after Ivan has knocked over the lamp?

2. At the ball, how does Mrs. Luzhin compare the movie actresses to her husband in her mind?

3. What does Valentinov want Luzhin to do for him?

4. What memory of his father does Luzhin recall when he stops to buy fruit?

5. How does Luzhin react to the parties of intellectuals that his wife entertains?

6. What does Luzhin see in the window of a stationery store that fascinates him?

7. What word keeps going through Mrs. Luzhin's mind on her wedding night, and what does it mean?

8. How does Luzhin react after meeting an old acquaintance at the ball?

9. What are Mrs. Luzhin's political opinions about the Soviet Union?

10. How to Kurt and Karl know where to send Luzhin in the taxi?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Luzhin is only known by his family name throughout most of the novel, and other major characters are never named at all. Discuss the use of names in the novel.

1) Why is Luzhin only known by his family name throughout the novel? Why is his personal name revealed at the end of the novel?

2) Why are the characters closest to Luzhin, like his wife, never named?

3) Why are characters who are relatively unimportant, like guests at a party or people the Luzhins run into on the street, given names? What does this show about the author's perspective?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the structure of the novel.

1) What divides the novel into sections or parts? What roles do these parts play over the course of the novel?

2) How does Luzhin develop over the course of the novel? How does he change?

3) Why does the novel begin in Luzhin's boyhood?

(see the answer keys)

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