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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 long did Solzhenitsyn "duel" with interrogators before being sent to prison?

2. Which of the following monsters did Solzhenitsyn compare Borsch to when he saw him at the medical hospital in camp?

3. How many useful measures of torture did the Gulag prison system use?

4. Which of the following statements best describes Solzhenitsyn's attitude toward being in prison?

5. How long was Chulpenyev held before being sent to the Gulag prison camps?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the Section 11 paperwork that Solzhenitsyn signed during his interrogation?

2. How did the prisoners feel about the offer of joining the white battalion?

3. Who was Igor Tronko?

4. How long did trials at the height of Gulag last for civilian prisoners?

5. What is the typical reaction most prisoners had during the first 24 hours after their arrest and imprisonment in Gulag?

6. While imprisoned, what did Solzhenitsyn feel about his Motherland?

7. In what ways did interrogators try to intimidate prisoners in the early 1920s?

8. Why was Solzhenitsyn arrested, and what was his reaction?

9. How did families typically react when they saw a family member arrested?

10. What happened in the military case of Mongolia in 1941?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the memoir, Solzhenitsyn compares the real evil of the world (such as the evil of Gulag) to the evil forces presented in literature. First, describe Solzhenitsyn's personal definition of what evil is and where it is hiding in the world. Next, compare/contrast that definition to at least one of the literary greats Solzhenitsyn discusses in the book.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout his memoir, Solzhenitsyn describes how the Gulag camps compared/contrasted to other famous labor camps through history, most notably the Nazi death camps. Compare/contrast the Gulag camps with the Nazi concentration camps. What was the same about these camps? What was different? Explain why many Westerners have never heard of the Gulag camps and instead have focused all their research on the Nazi concentration camps.

Essay Topic 3

When the widespread arrests started sweeping through Russia, few political prisoners fought against their arrests. First, explain why many men didn't fight against their arrests, and what they thought would happen to them in their first days within the camp. Next, explain how hope was slowly dashed, and why many prisoners refused to commit suicide or attempt escape.

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