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This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do the police take from Peter Verkhovensky's house?

2. Why does Lisa want to leave Stavrogin at the beginning of the Part 3, Chapter 3?

3. What cover do the fifteen people use for gathering at Virginsky's house?

4. Who carries out the raid on Peter's house?

5. What is Peter Verkhovensky concerned about when he rushes out of Virginsky's house?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Are Shatov and Stepan Verkhovensky heroes in The Possessed? Why or why not? Are Peter Verkhovensky and Stavrogin heroes? Are they villains?

Essay Topic 3

Peter Verkhovensky exploits the blindness, weakness and gullibility of many characters as he works his wiles. Does the action of the book change any of those characters so that they are immune from Peter's machinations? Asked another way--is The Possessed a moral book that teaches a lesson, or a cynical book that teaches that there are no lessons, only different actors with different motivations?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 293 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample