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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 party react when Vera says Hippolite is going to kill himself?

2. What does Ganja say happened to Burdovsky's real father?

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

4. When the Prince and Rogozhin get back to Myshkin's house, what have a group of visitors gathered to celebrate?

5. What does Myshkin do while he is waiting for Aglaya on the park bench?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why hasn't Myshkin visited the Yephanchins?

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

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

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

5. How does Myshkin contradict what Aglaya has told him about Ganja?

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

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

8. What is Ganja's attitude toward his father?

9. What happens when Hippolite tries to kill himself?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Myshkin is often considered a Christ figure in the novel. Discuss Myshkin as a Christ figure.

1) What aspects of goodness does Myshkin embody? Does the author think these traits are truly, and always, good? How are these traits contrasted against the society of St. Petersburg?

2) Why does Myshkin end up insane at the end of the novel? How does this ending compare to the crucifixion of Christ? Does Myshkin in any way provide salvation, as a Christ figure?

3) In what ways is Myshkin dissimilar from Christ?

Essay Topic 2

The novel centers around the characters' love relationships. Discuss love in the novel.

1) What causes characters to fall in love with each other in the novel? How can the characters, and the reader, distinguish between true love and different kinds of attraction in the novel?

2) What role does jealousy play in the characters' love relationships? What role does the characters' ideas of their self-worth play in their attraction to others?

3) What role does social position and money play in the characters' love relationships?

Essay Topic 3

In the society depicted in the novel, marriage is an important institution. The characters try to arrange marriages for themselves and for others. Discuss marriage in the novel.

1) How do the characters choose who they want to marry? How does Myshkin decide first to marry Aglaya and then Nastassya? How does Nastassya determine to marry Myshkin, and then run off with Rogozhin?

2) How do family members influence marriage? How do Aglaya's parents think of their daughter's marriage? What influence do they have on her marriage?

3) How does society view marriage? What relation does money and social position have to marriage? Does society influence the marriage choices that the characters make?

(see the answer keys)

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