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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. How does the narrator characterize his account of this story?

2. Who does Golyadkin blame the previous night’s horrors on?

3. Which of the following best characterizes Golyadkin’s entrance to the party?

4. What did Golyadkin expect when he entered the office?

5. What does Dostoevsky say Golyadkin has difficulty with?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Golyadkin’s sense as he chases the stranger?

2. Describe the weather into which Golyadkin is expelled from the banquet.

3. What does the narrator’s rhetoric have to do with Golyadkin’s tale in particular?

4. What kinds of goods does Golyadkin go shopping for at Nevsky Prospekt?

5. What confession does Golyadkin make to Krestyan Ivanovich?

6. Describe Golyadkin’s first encounter with his double.

7. Describe Golyadkin’s feelings on leaving Olsufy Ivanovich’s house.

8. What is Krestyan Ivanovich’s opinion of Golyadkin?

9. Describe Golyadkin’s entrance into Olsufy Ivanovich’s banquet.

10. What blunders does Golyadkin make when he enters Krestyan Ivanovich’s office?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is missing from this book? What should have been covered or presented that was not? What is the effect of this absence? Describe an element that ought to have been covered, and explain why it would have made the book stronger.

Essay Topic 2

Make an argument for the genre that best describes The Double. Is it a parody? A satire? A morality tale? A philosophical discourse on uncanniness? A psychological study of madness—or something else. Explain why the term you chose is the better fit than the others.

Essay Topic 3

Write an evaluative review of The Double. What is this book’s place in culture? What are its uses? What are its limitations?

(see the answer keys)

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