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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 General describe the Prince to his wife?

2. How does Myshkin react when Ganja calls him an idiot?

3. Who goes first in the game?

4. Who gets fired in Ferdyshchenko's story?

5. Who finally brings Myshkin to Nastassya's house?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Yephanchin say that he did to make up for his guilty feelings?

2. How did Rogozhin become estranged from his father?

3. What does Myshkin feel when he gets off the train arriving in St. Petersburg?

4. How does Myshkin respond when Adelaide asks him about falling in love?

5. Why is Ganja marrying Nastassya?

6. What does Myshkin predict about Rogozhin and Nastassya Filippovna?

7. How does Myshkin describe Aglaya?

8. What happens to Myshkin when Rogozhin tries to kill him?

9. What does Nastassya say initially to Myshkin's proposal?

10. How do the Yephanchins' three daughters react to Myshkin?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Myshkin is known for his forgiveness of others throughout the novel. Discuss forgiveness in the novel.

1) Why does Myshkin continue to forgive others for wrongs, including Rogozhin's murder of Nastassya? Are there other characters in the novel that forgive each other for wrongdoings?

2) How does the knowledge of assured forgiveness affect the characters' behavior? Does it make Lebedev more likely to be complicit in the scandalous article against Myshkin? Does forgiveness have a negative affect on characters?

3) When do the characters not forgive each other? How does the lack of forgiveness affect the characters' lives?

Essay Topic 2

The characters' reactions and actions in the novel are often emotional ones. Discuss emotionalism in the novel.

1) How do Aglaya and Nastassya both react emotionally? How do their emotional reactions influence events and others' perceptions of them? What decisions do they make based on emotions?

2) How are Myshkin and Rogozhin's reactions different? What role does emotion play in each man's life?

3) How are Lebedev, General Ivolgin, Ganja, and other characters emotional? What consequences do their emotional responses contribute to?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss religion in the novel.

1) What stories do the characters tell about religion and about God? What do these stories mean? Why does the author include them in the novel?

2) What do Myshkin and Rogozhin say about the religious painting in Rogozhin's house? What is the significance of the painting? Does it reveal anything about Rogozhin's relationship to religion? What about the crosses that the two men exchange? What is the religious significance of the crosses?

3) How does Myshkin react when he learns his benefactor turned to Catholicism before his death? What does this say about Myshkin's attitude toward religion? How is Myshkin's attitude toward religion different than the other characters' attitudes?

(see the answer keys)

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