View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the Luzhins' maid particularly bat at?

2. What book do Luzhin and his wife find in their new study?

3. What do the doctor and Luzhin's fiancee call his years of playing chess?

4. Where does Mrs. Luzhin take her husband that he's never been before?

5. What artistic medium does Luzhin prefer?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. What upsets Luzhien about the geography of the world?

8. What does Luzhin's psychiatrist say about the possibility of him marrying?

9. What does Luzhin think is the point of the "game" being played against him?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Luzhin has difficulty with human relationships. Discuss love and human connection in the novel.

1) How does Luzhin form human connections, with his parents, his manager, his wife, his in-laws, and others? How are his human connections different from other people's?

2) Does Luzhin find love in the novel? Does he love others, and does he get love in return? How do his wife and his father love him?

3) Discuss the love relationships other than Luzhin's. How do his parents love or not love each other? How do his in-laws love each other? What other examples of love are there in the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss conscious and unconscious awareness in the novel.

1) Is Luzhin conscious of what he wants, needs, and feels? How does he relate to his own feelings? What goes on below the surface in his mind?

2) How conscious is Luzhin's wife of her own motivations, needs, and feelings? How does she explain her motivations to herself?

3) How conscious are Luzhin's in-laws, parents, and psychiatrist of their own motivations and what drives them? How is Luzhin's father aware of his drives and needs?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 825 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample