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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 Tolstoy describe Stepan Kasatsky's educational career?

2. Whose house do the travelers stop at?

3. What is Mukhorty covered with when he stumbles in a ditch?

4. What doest Stepan Kasatsky tell Countess Korotkova?

5. What does Murad hope for, from the person he is trying to reach?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to Vasili and Nikita after they set out from Grishkino?

2. How does Stepan acquire the name Father Sergius?

3. What does Tolstoy mean by ending the story with Marya Dmitrievna screaming 'you are all cutthroats'?

4. Describe Pozdnyshev's marriage.

5. What causes Vasili Andreevich to set off for Goryachkin?

6. What does Pozdnyshev realize as soon as he kills his wife?

7. Describe Stepan Kasatsky's relationship with Countess Korotkova.

8. What does Hadji Murad hope to find when he reaches Russia?

9. Why did Hadji Murad set out for Russia?

10. What is the event that precipitates Pozdnyshev's murder of his wife?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How do characters in three of Tolstoy's stories handle depression? What is it typically caused by, and what are the effective solutions to it?

Essay Topic 2

Based on evidence from three stories of your choice, describe Tolstoy's view of religion and spirituality. What kind of God does Tolstoy invoke in his stories? What religion informs this divinity?

Essay Topic 3

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".

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