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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 Madam Yephanchin's gathering, who argues that Burdovsky did not take advantage of Myshkin?

2. What does Hippolite say he is going to read?

3. What does Lebedev plan to do about the missing money?

4. Who is Ganja arguing with, when Varya comes home at the beginning of Part IV?

5. When Myshkin asks about Lebedev's missing money, where does Lebedev tell Myshkin he found the money?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

6. What does Ganja report about Burdovsky's relationship with Pavlishtchev?

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

8. Why hasn't Myshkin visited the Yephanchins?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss death in the novel.

1) Discuss Hippolite's attempted suicide and impending death from disease. How does Hippolite perceive death? How does he deal with impending death?

2) Discuss General Ivolgin's death from stroke. What does death mean to the General and those around him? What perspective does his first stroke and eventual death put on his disagreement with Lebedev?

3) Discuss Nastassya's death. What leads up to her death? What does her death mean to Rogozhin and to Myshkin? What does death mean to Nastassya?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the nature of goodness in the novel.

1) In what ways does Myshkin embody goodness? Is Myshkin's goodness always truly good?

2) Why can't Myshkin's goodness survive in St. Petersburg society? Is goodness doomed to tragedy and failure?

3) Does Rogozhin have any goodness in him? In what ways are the other characters good?

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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