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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 many days was a prisoner sent to punishment for if he were found guilty of unruliness?

2. Which of the following preparations was NOT performed before the cattle cars were deemed fit for use for the prisoners?

3. Which group of soldiers turned on the Russian church, demanding all its money?

4. Which of the following groups of prisoners was NOT sent to its own secret prisons in Gulag?

5. Which of the following groups of workers was NOT considered a trusty in the prison system?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the peasants of Kotlas live after a Gulag prison was set up on their land in 1938?

2. Who was in charge of preparing stolypins for prisoner use, and how were the stolypins prepared?

3. What did prisoners eat when they were being transported from one prison to another?

4. In what ways did the Gulag guards attempt to prevent hunger strikes from running rampant in the prisons?

5. What would prisoners drink while being transported?

6. What did Lenin say to Gorky about the intelligentsia of Russia?

7. When and where did the first Gulag hunger strike occur?

8. How were toilet trips managed when transporting passengers?

9. Who were the sons of Gulag?

10. What surprises in the camps did prisoners remember that shocked their systems upon arrival?

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

Before arriving at Gulag prison, many prisoners, including Solzhenitsyn, spent time in local prisons training for their time at hard labor. Describe life for the prisoners in the local prisons, and compare/contrast their living conditions to those in Gulag. Explain how life for Solzhenitsyn, specifically, changed as he was moved from prison to prison.

Essay Topic 3

Joseph Stalin was, perhaps, the strongest force in keeping the Gulag prison system in effect for as long as it was. First, explain why Stalin created Gulag to begin with and how he fought to keep the camp system running alongside his vision. Next, explain the reaction to Stalin's death in the camps and what changes were made in Gulag following Stalin's passing.

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