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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. Who is Marya's cart driver in "The Schoolmistress"?

2. What does the principal tell Marya when she tries to discuss her grievances about the watchman?

3. Which worker at Marya's school has she tried to have dismissed for two years?

4. What season has not fully ended in "The Schoolmistress"?

5. How old is Hanov?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Marya think of Hanov as their cart follows his?

2. Which of Marya's coworkers does she try to get dismissed and what comes of it?

3. Describe Hanov.

4. What did Hanov do at Marya's school the year before the story takes place?

5. What do readers learn of Marya's past at the start of "The Schoolmistress"?

6. What news from Moscow does Semyon tell Marya he heard at Ivan Ionov's tavern?

7. What does Marya think of on the cart at the start of "The Schoolmistress"?

8. What does Marya think of the school inspector?

9. What does Marya Vassilyevna do for work? How long has she had the occupation? Where is she going at the start of "The Schoolmistress"?

10. What is the only thing Marya keeps from her past?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay exploring the theme of corruption and mistrust in the story “The Schoolmistress.” Which characters are mistrusted? Why? What characters are thought to be corrupt? Which characters are mistreated and by whom?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing narrative voice in “The Schoolmistress.” Include thoughts on how the narrative voice of the story is effective in conveying the story’s themes.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay examining the cart as a symbol in "The Schoolmistress." In what scenes does the cart seem most important? What is the context? Could the cart be a metaphor for something else? In what ways does the cart move the storyline and develop the narrative?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 615 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample