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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 fruit does Luzhin buy on his walk with his wife?

2. Who is depicted atop the bookcase in the new apartment?

3. Who is Petrishchev, the man Luzhin winds up talking to at the ball?

4. After failing to hide the chess set, what does Luzhin decide to do with it?

5. When Luzhin finally comes to his bedroom on his wedding night, where does his wife go?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Luzhin doing when Ivan knocks over the lamp?

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

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

4. What is Mrs. Luzhin reminded of when she reads Soviet newspapers?

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

6. How does Luzhin feel at his wedding reception?

7. What catches Luzhin's attention to distract him from chess that he is accidentally reminded of?

8. What books that his fiancee brings him in the sanatorium does Luzhin enjoy?

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

10. How does Luzhin act in the days before his wedding?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

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 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?

(see the answer keys)

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