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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. At the beginning of Part III, Chapter VI, what decor from Rogozhin's home does Hippolite talk about?

2. What does Koyla ask his father to do?

3. What is Hippolite's response to Madam Yephanchin's anger?

4. Where does Hippolite plan to kill himself?

5. When Nastassya sees Myshkin at the end of Chapter VI, what does she do?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Myskhin's view of dueling seem to be?

2. How does General Ivolgin act when he talks to Myshkin after his argument with Lebedev?

3. Why does Hippolite want to kill himself?

4. How does Aglaya react to winning and losing at games?

5. What leads up to the violence in the park?

6. How do the guests at the Yephanchins' react to Myshkin's response to Radomsky's political views?

7. Why does Burdovsky feel he is owed something from Myshkin?

8. What are Agalya's plans for herself and Myshkin when she first meets him in the park?

9. What happens when Hippolite tries to kill himself?

10. How does Myshkin learn that Nastassya is in town?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Much of the action in the novel happens at parties and social gatherings. Discuss the importance of parties and social gatherings in the novel.

1) Why does so much of the action of the novel take place at parties and social gatherings? How do the characters react differently in these social situations, than in private?

2) What role do parties and social gatherings fulfill in the culture of St. Petersburg? How do they affect the social relationships and social order of the characters?

3) How are events at parties and social gatherings reviewed and critiqued by the people attending the gatherings? How does this change the consequences of those events, which are witnessed by groups of people?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss how characters in the novel define themselves, and their relationships to others.

1) How does Rogozhin define himself in the novel? What is his perception of himself? How does his own self-perception lead him to violence against both Myshkin and Nastassya?

2) How does Nastassya define herself in the novel? How does her relationship with Totsky affect her self-perception? How does her view of herself affect her relationships with Rogozhin and with Myshkin?

3) How does Aglyana perceive herself? How do her parents' and sisters' attitudes affect her self-perception? How does her definition of herself affect her relationships with others, including her romantic relationships with Ganja and Myshkin? What leads her to the confrontation with Nastassya after Myshkin's seizure?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the role of family in the characters' lives.

1) How do the characters' families and social positions affect their lives? How do family relationships affect how the characters are accepted by society?

2) How does it affect Nastassya that her parents are killed when she is young? How do the characters' upbringings affect their personalities and attitudes?

3) How do the characters' families try to influence the characters' lives and decisions? What forces do families use to influence family members' behavior.

(see the answer keys)

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