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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 the Professor think will happen if Vanya sits with him for a while?

2. Yelena suggests that being with Vanya would ____________ as Vanya just wants to possess her.

3. What does Yelena put on the Professor as it has fallen off of his as he slept?

4. What do Yelena and Sonya share together as a way to celebrate their new friendship?

5. Who does Yelena say has real talent and a real vision, and that he must be cared for?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is painful for Vanya when he looks at Yelena, according to his own words as he is drunk?

2. What does Vanya think about the profession of the Professor?

3. What is Marina doing as she is sitting at the start of the play in a country home in Russia?

4. What does Vanya announce to everyone when he walks into this second scene of the play?

5. What is the memory that Astrov becomes lost in as he is talking with Marina?

6. What does Marina think about people who are living a hundred years in the future?

7. What is the argument that Sonya gives to Vanya in order to encourage him to give back the morphine?

8. What is odd about the Professor's appearance according to Astrov and Vanya?

9. What does Vanya go out to do in order to make Yelena feel better?

10. What does Astrov admit to Yelena in reference to his feelings about Sonya when Yelena asks him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Various characters at various times talk about how they regret many things they have not done.

Part 1: Why do you think the characters are suddenly regretting things in the course of this play?

Part 2: Do you think a person should express their regrets? Why or why not?

Part 3: How might one avoid having regrets in one's life? Is this an impossible task?

Essay Topic 2

The Professor points out that as he ages, he is becoming more offensive to himself.

Part 1: Why do you think the Professor feels he is getting offensive?

Part 2: Do you agree that people become more troublesome as they become older? Why or why not?

Part 3: How do you think you will behave when you become older? How might you feel about yourself?

Essay Topic 3

The scene in which Vanya tries to shoot the Professor is a dramatic one, though it does not result in death or even in change.

Part 1: Why do you think Vanya tried to shoot the Professor, twice, in this scene?

Part 2: Do you think Vanya intended to hurt the Professor? Why or why not?

Part 3: What else might Vanya have done to persuade the Professor? Why?

(see the answer keys)

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