View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. On page 38, Zaroff calls something that Rainsford says "barbarous." What does this word mean in this context?
(a) Ridiculous.
(b) Cruel and uncivilized.
(c) Willfully ignorant.
(d) Unimaginative.

2. On page 59, Rainsford's waiting is described with the phrase "He lived a year in a minute." What literary technique is being used here?
(a) Imagery.
(b) Hyperbole.
(c) Simile.
(d) Onomatopoeia.

3. What does Zaroff believe fighting in the war should have taught Rainsford?
(a) That nothing in life is fair.
(b) How to hunt for human beings.
(c) That human life is not inherently valuable.
(d) To keep a level head when he is in danger.

4. When Rainsford digs his pit trap, he is said to dig like what?
(a) A beaver.
(b) A soldier.
(c) A Russian serf.
(d) A groundhog.

5. What is the result of Rainsford's pit trap?
(a) Zaroff is seriously wounded.
(b) Zaroff's servant is killed.
(c) One of Zaroff's dogs is killed.
(d) Rainsford himself falls into the trap.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Rainsford is waiting in the tree, to whom does he compare Zaroff?

2. On page 51, Rainsford's night is said to be "apprehensive." What kind of a night is it?

3. On page 35, Zaroff says that Rainsford's attitude is "like finding a snuffbox in a limousine." What rhetorical technique is he employing?

4. What justification does Zaroff give for his actions?

5. What supplies does Zaroff offer the men he hunts?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Zaroff obtain his victims?

2. What allusion is contained in the sentence "I have played the fox, now I must play the cat of the fable," and what is the meaning of the allusion (50)?

3. What does Zaroff say about the "strong" and the "weak" (35)?

4. What does the sentence "He was in a picture with a frame of water, and his operations, clearly, must take place within that frame" mean? (49)

5. What does Zaroff want to show Rainsford in the cellar and in the library, and what does this tell the reader about him?

6. What does General Zaroff's definition of "civilized" seem to be?

7. What disagreement do Zaroff and Rainsford have about the difference between "hunting" and "murder"?

8. How does Rainsford finally escape Zaroff, and why is Zaroff foolish to assume that Rainsford is dead?

9. How does Zaroff characterize Rainsford's views on hunting human beings?

10. What part of the island does Zaroff tell Rainsford to avoid, and what are at least two likely motives for his warning?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,099 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample