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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. What has Varya been trying to do in her visits to the Yephanchins' house?

2. Who does Madam Yephanchin wonder if Aglaya is seriously interested in, at the beginning of Part III?

3. Who tells Myshkin that an officer wants to duel him?

4. Where does Aglaya say she comes some mornings at 7 o'clock?

5. What is Radomsky's view of liberalism?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How do Myshkin and Agalya each interpret Myshkin's earlier letter to Agalya?

3. How does Myshkin treat Rogozhin, after Rogozhin tried to kill him?

4. What does Madam Yephanchin think about, as she brings Myshkin to her house?

5. How does Madam Yephanchin react, after Burdovsky and his companions object to the information Ganja reveals about Burdovsky?

6. How does Myshkin feel, when he gets to Madam Yephanchin and is sitting at the table with Aglaya and the other guests?

7. How would Myshkin probably act, if he were in Lebedev's place in the disagreement between Lebedev and General Ivolgin?

8. What does Madam Yephanchin feel about her daughter's relationship with Myshkin?

9. How does Myshkin answer Nastassya's question to him, and what is Rogozhin's response?

10. What does Aglaya say to Myshkin, after her proposal to him?

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 beauty and women in the novel.

1) How do the characters treat beautiful women differently from women who are not beautiful, or who are less beautiful? How is beauty valued in the society and by Myshkin?

2) Why is Nastassya introduced to Myshkin first by a picture? What does Myshkin know about Nastassya, based on her picture? How does Nastassya's beauty affect her life and her character?

3) How does Aglaya's beauty affect her life and her character? Does it change her personality? How would her life be different if she were not beautiful?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the role that society's criticism and approval plays in the characters' lives in the novel.

1) What types of actions are criticized and approved of by society in the novel? How does the society as a whole make its criticism or approval felt to the characters?

2) How do characters respond to societal pressure or societal disapproval? How does it influence characters' actions? How do the characters respond to society's expectations and approval? Do characters actively try to gain societal approval?

3) How is Myshkin perceived by society? When and how is he criticized or approved? How does societal criticism or approval affect Myshkin?

(see the answer keys)

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