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

2. What possession of Luzhin's does his fiancee retrieve from the tournament hall?

3. After his wife's old friend from Russia visits, how does Luzhin begin seeing his life?

4. What is Luzhin given by the coat room when he turns in his jacket at the ball?

5. What does Valentinov tell Mrs. Luzhin to whisper in her husband's ear?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Luzhin feel at his wedding reception?

2. How does Luzhin kill himself?

3. Why doesn't Luzhin's fiancee ask him about his tuxedo?

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

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

6. How does Luzhin falling unconscious affect his fiancee?

7. What letter does Luzhin send to a stranger?

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

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

10. Why does Mrs. Luzhin find it difficult to locate her husband at the ball?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss marriage in the novel.

1) How does Luzhin's parent's marriage play out? What example of marriage does Luzhin have as a child?

2) Why does Luzhin marry? What does he expect from marriage? What does his wife expect from marriage? What do others expect from their marriage?

3) What other examples of marriage are there in the novel? What is Luzhin's wife's parents' marriage like? What does the novel say about marriage in general?

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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