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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. Where does Luzhin's fiancee's father want her to go away to with her mother, to forget about Luzhin?

2. When does Luzhin feel a strange emptiness, as he prepares for his wedding?

3. What year is the desk calendar that Luzhin's fiancee finds in his room?

4. What item does Luzhin find in the lining of his pocket?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does Luzhin's fiancee's mother react to the idea that Luzhin is drunk?

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

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

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

6. How does Luzhin falling unconscious affect his fiancee?

7. What does Luzhin's future mother-in-law feel as the wedding approaches?

8. How does Luzhin's fiancee feel about their new apartment as she furnishes it?

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

10. How does Luzhin feel at his wedding reception?

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 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 3

Discuss fulfillment in the novel.

1) What motivates characters to pursue the activities they pursue? What motivates Luzhin? What motivates his wife?

2) Where do characters in the novel find fulfillment? Are any of the characters successful in feeling fulfilled?

3) What prevents fulfillment? How do characters perceive others' desires for or quests for fulfillment? How do characters conflict over what makes them fill fulfilled?

(see the answer keys)

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