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

3. Who does Madam Yephanchin learn came to visit Aglaya while she was out?

4. What happens to General Ivolgin?

5. When Hippolite wakes at Myshkin's celebration, how long does a party member say he's been asleep?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

6. What does Keller ask Myshkin for?

7. Why does Hippolite want to kill himself?

8. Why hasn't Myshkin visited the Yephanchins?

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

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

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

Nastassya and Aglyana are the two main female characters in the novel. Compare these two characters.

1) In what ways does Nastassya parallel Rogozhin in the novel? In what ways does Aglyana parallel Myshkin? How are the relationships between the two major male characters and the two major female characters similar and different?

2) Compare Nastassya and Aglyana. How are their home lives and upbringing similar and different? How are they perceived by others? How do others affect their actions?

3) Compare the eventual fates of Nastassya and Aglyana. Why is Aglyana the only major character to go on and live a normal life after the climax of the novel? What does this say about Aglyana's emotions and character?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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