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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 does Stavrogin do when it is his turn to shoot?

2. In whose house is Peter spreading rumors in the days before the fête?

3. Where were Captain Lebyatin and his sister living when Nicholas met them?

4. What is Stepan Verkhovensky's relationship with Mrs. Stavrogin?

5. How are Mrs. Stavrogin's views changing as time goes on?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Peter's relationship with Stavrogin?

2. How would you characterize the opposition between Stepan and Peter?

3. What story does Stepan, in his fever, think is representative of contemporary Russia?

4. What plans does Peter seem to be making at the end of Part II, Chapter 4?

5. How are Liputin, Shatov and Virginsky described when we meet them?

6. What stories and events are swirling in the aftermath of the confrontation that ended Part 1?

7. What business does Peter conduct with Kirilov in the raining cold of the night?

8. What do we know about the poem, A Noble Character?

9. What does Stavrogin tell Dasha after the duel?

10. What do Erkel and Peter tell Shatov when they meet with him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How are women depicted in The Possessed? Are they mere symbols of sexual attributes like desirability and innocence and seduction, or are they individuals with complex feelings and thoughts? How are they distinguished from the male characters, or are they treated as similarly-independent, self-reliant souls?

Essay Topic 2

What is the role of literature in The Possessed? What kinds of literature are there, and what do characters expect from writers and from novels and from tracts? What effect do writers and literature have on society?

Essay Topic 3

Is there a consistent morality in The Possessed? Do violent people always pay a price for their acts of violence? Are criminals and scoundrels always caught and punished, or made to suffer somehow? Is innocent suffering redeemed?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 963 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample