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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. To what does the narrator admit when discussing his grandmother's descriptions of France?
2. Who is teased ruthlessly in school?
3. Why does Charlotte's father take off in his carriage?
4. Who does the narrator curse at a dinner party?
5. What type of dwellings does Albertine move into with each move?
Short Essay Questions
1. How does missing a train save Charlotte and her children's lives?
2. Where does Albertine retreat?
3. What does Charlotte do during the war and how does she react to her work?
4. How does Charlotte end up returning to Russia and what is her response when she arrives there?
5. Why does the narrator become outraged?
6. What happens when the narrator and his sister go for oranges?
7. What political importance is lost to the children?
8. What happens after the children are put to bed?
9. What is the narrator allowed to do when he is 14?
10. Why does the narrator break into his grandmother's Siberian Suitcase?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Many readers of fiction place themselves in the position of one character, wondering if they would do the same thing as that character. Discuss the following:
1. Do you think one of the values of literature is to serve as a reflection of oneself? Why or why not?
2. Socrates said "Know thyself." How can reading a book such as "Dreams of My Russian Summers" help a reader to know him/herself? Do you find yourself reflecting on your own character and abilities when reading "Dreams of My Russian Summers"? Why or why not.
3. Choose one specific incident in "Dreams of My Russian Summers" to discuss and compare one of the characters' response to how you think you would respond.
Essay Topic 2
Discuss one of the following:
1. Trace and analyze the theme of growth in "Dreams of My Russian Summers". Consider the following questions as you write: What characters are most concerned with growth? Why? What are some symbols of growth? Symbols of rigidity? What characters seem rigid?
2. Trace and analyze the theme of courage in "Dreams of My Russian Summers". Which characters struggle with this issue? Why? Which characters seem to possess courage? Why?
3. Trace and analyze the theme of death in "Dreams of My Russian Summers". Consider not only the physical deaths but the death of innocence or the death of ignorance.
Essay Topic 3
"Dreams of My Russian Summers" belongs to the fictional memoir genre. Discuss the following:
1. Define the literary term "genre" and give several examples of three other genres in addition to the fictional memoir genre.
2. Discuss two reasons why it might be useful to label a text by genre and two reasons it might be disadvantageous to label a text by genre.
3. What do you think is the difference between a fictional memoir and a historical novel?
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This section contains 998 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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