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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 event results in an investigation that discovers radical literature?

2. What are the terms under which Stepan departs Mrs. Stavrogin's house?

3. What condition does Mrs. Lembke impose on people who want to come to her party?

4. What plan does Mrs. Stavrogin make for Verhovensky?

5. Who is Lisa Tushin?

Short Essay Questions

1. What leads up to Nicholas' confession that he is married to Mary?

2. What does Mrs. Stavrogin suggest as a result of her sense that she is getting older?

3. How do people explain the gathering of workers from the Spigulin factory?

4. How does Stepan Verkhovensky react to having his house raided?

5. How many people end up involved in the conversation between Mrs. Stavrogin and Shatov at the beginning of Chapter 3 in Part I?

6. What is Shigalyov's new plan of social organization?

7. What is Peter planning with regard to Shatov?

8. What objections are raised to murdering Shatov, and who raises them?

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

10. How are Stavrogin and Lisa getting along the morning after the night they spent together?

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

Is the duel between Gaganov and Stavrogin a metaphor for the book? Is the murder of Captain and Mary Lebyatkin a better metaphor? What event in the book is most representative of the book as a whole?

Essay Topic 3

What images or symbols repeat throughout The Possessed? How are images built into symbols, and what symbolic resonance do images acquire? Choose three images, and describe the symbolic associations the obtain throughout the book.

(see the answer keys)

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