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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 are Golyadkin’s thoughts characterized when he is at his flat?

2. What is Golyadkin’s sense of what fate has in store for him?

3. Whom does Golyadkin appeal to as his last resort?

4. What does Petrushka tell Golyadkin when he gets home at the beginning of Chapter 12?

5. How is Golyadkin described at the beginning of Chapter 11?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are Golyadkin’s feelings as he concludes the night with Golyadkin Junior?

2. What requests does Golyadkin make of Petrushka?

3. What is the importance of the letter Golyadkin receives from Klara Olsufyevna?

4. What happens after Golyadkin leaves the office at the end of the day?

5. What is the outcome of Golyadkin’s appeal to His Excellency?

6. Describe the intimacy that develops between Golyadkin and Golyadkin Junior.

7. What profound experience does Golyadkin have in his sleep?

8. What response does Golyadkin get to his letter?

9. What is the state of affairs when Golyadkin arrives home and talks with Petrushka?

10. Describe the letter Golyadkin writes to Golyadkin Junior before going to the office.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What explanation does Dostoevsky give the reader to explain Golyadkin’s guilt, or the visitation by his Double? What are the advantages and disadvantages of Dostoevsky’s leaving this ambiguous?

Essay Topic 2

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

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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