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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. Even after Ivan Ilych realizes that he is going to die, what kinds of thoughts does he try to think about?

2. What year is it in the novel?

3. What offends Ivan Ilych the most about being passed over for a promotion?

4. Who helps Ivan Ilych begin to realize that he is dying?

5. How much money does Ivan Ilych need to be paid?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Ivan's sense of power juxtaposed in Chapter 2?

2. Why do you think Ivan has more difficulty avoiding the thought of his death at work?

3. Describe how Ivan and others' initial response to his illness are classic examples of the denial stage of dying.

4. Identify the crisis for Ivan in Chapter 5.

5. What is the setting of Chapter 1?

6. What does Ivan stop doing in Chapter 11?

7. How does the opium affect Ivan?

8. How could Ivan's death serve as an awakening for his lifetime acquaintance, Peter? Does Peter avail himself of this awakening?

9. In Chapter 2, how does Ivan see his life and why does he think this?

10. How does the author see Ivan's life and why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Ivan's family deal with his suffering and death? Do they learn anything from this experience? If so, what?

Essay Topic 2

How is Tolstoy's own life represented in "The Death of Ivan Ilych?" Include how he grew up, his early adulthood and what he came to believe later in his life. Be sure to include supporting evidence from the novel as well as independent biographical information about Leo Tolstoy.

Essay Topic 3

How does Ivan deal with life when it becomes disagreeable? Why does his method of dealing with life in this way ultimately fail?

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