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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 Ivan Ilych's wife?

2. What does Ivan Ilych hear down the hall?

3. What does Ivan Ilych see in the eyes of his brother-in-law?

4. How does Ivan Ilych's wife behave toward his illness?

5. Why is it ironic that Ivan resents that his death is trivial?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Ivan's experience of death in Chapter 2 similar to Peter Ivanovich's experience of death in Chapter 1?

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

3. How does Ivan cope with the knowledge that he is dying?

4. How does the doctor's professional air parallel Ivan's attitude at work?

5. How does the opium affect Ivan?

6. What does Ivan discover about his method of coping in Chapter 6?

7. Initially, how did Ivan react to this self-revelation in Chapter 5?

8. Why does Ivan fall into a profound depression?

9. Is the author's definition of the "good life" the same as that of Ivan and his wife? Support your answer.

10. How does Ivan make his pain worse?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast Ivan and Gerasim. What is the relationship and/or purpose of these two characters, specifically, in this novel?

Essay Topic 2

Explain how Ivan goes through the five stages of dying. What emotions does he experience?

Essay Topic 3

What role does religion play in Ivan's dying and death? Support your answer. Does Ivan welcome religion as a comfort while he is dying? Does Ivan scorn religion because he blames God for his death? Does Ivan go along with religious rituals to please his wife as he's gone along throughout his life doing things to please others?

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