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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 is Golyadkin described at the beginning of Chapter 11?

2. What does Golyadkin say it is sinful to do?

3. What claim does Golyadkin Junior make to Golyadkin?

4. What solution does Klara Olsufyevna propose?

5. What does Golyadkin say he is doing by bring Golyadkin Junior home?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the narrator say about Golyadkin’s tendency to exacerbate his feelings?

2. How does Golyadkin Junior insult Golyadkin at the office?

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

4. Describe Golyadkin Junior’s entrance into the office.

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

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

7. Why does Golyadkin Junior say he appealed to Golyadkin?

8. What trick does Golyadkin Junior play on Golyadkin when he leaves the coffee house where they have been talking?

9. What is Golyadkin Junior like when Golyadkin finds him at the office?

10. What is Golyadkin Junior like when Golyadkin finds him at the office?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Double is subtitled “A Petersburg Tale”: What makes it particular to St. Petersburg? What can you tell about Petersburg society, from Dostoevsky’ account of Golyadkin’s life and the appearance of his double?

Essay Topic 2

What are the particular techniques Dostoevsky uses to convey the horror of Golyadkin’s situation? How does he keep the reader’s interest, and preserve the reader’s sense of strangeness in this encounter? What information is provided, and what information is withheld?

Essay Topic 3

Is the Double a particularly Russian novella? Is it limited to its courtly setting, or is it a universal tale about human psychology?

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