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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. How does Ivan Ilych's relationship with his wife change when he begins to work at the Court of Justice?

2. Who is Ivan Ilych at the beginning of "The Death of Ivan Ilych"?

3. What do Marya's boredom and depression turn into?

4. How does Tolstoy describe Ivan Ilych's wife's temperament?

5. Whom did Lukashka think he killed?

Short Essay Questions

1. What kinds of problems does Ivan Ilych have with Praskovya Federovna, his wife?

2. Describe Dmitri's departure from the Caucasus.

3. What causes Sergey and Marya's relationship to blossom?

4. What does Dmitri Olenin think he will find in the Caucasus?

5. What causes Marya's depression?

6. Describe the beginning of Marya's relationship with Sergey.

7. Who is Eugene Irtenev and where does he live at the beginning of the story?

8. What causes Marya and Sergey to get beyond their jealousies?

9. How does Tolstoy describe Eugene Irtenev's marriage with Liza Annenskaya?

10. What intrudes to make Marya unhappy?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What kind of struggle does Marya expect from marriage, and what kind of struggle does she end up having to endure? Describe the significance of struggle in "Family Happiness".

Essay Topic 2

What is the state of civilization in the Russia of these stories? Are they modern, agricultural, primitive? What kinds of conflicts are taking place over the state of culture or progress? How do those conflicts reveal 'Russian culture'?

Essay Topic 3

How does Tolstoy see marriage? Analyze marriages in three stories, and describe the uses, benefits and disadvantages of marriage in Tolstoy's writing.

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