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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. What does the narrator hope will loosen the stationmaster's tongue with regard to the whereabouts of his daughter?

2. What does Ivan Yakovlevich want for breakfast when he wakes up on March 25th?

3. What is the name of the type of small wattle shed or hut that Pyotr Petrovich finds next to the bee-garden?

4. Who tells the merchant the story of the three hermits?

5. What is the device used to make Russian tea that the stationmaster asks his daughter to start for him when the narrator arrives?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the doctor say about Major Kovalyov's missing nose?

2. In "The Clothesmender", what does the priest say to the narrator are the advantages of living with the tailor?

3. Describe the character of the wife of Laputin, the benefactor in "The Clothesmender".

4. After discouragement from the newspaper and the district police inspector, how does Major Kovalyov feel when he gets home?

5. What happens when the stationmaster arrives in Petersburg?

6. What does Ivan Ivanovich think of the administrative news he hears the dead people talking about?

7. Why do the three hermits walk on water and chase the ship?

8. What happens when the narrator of "The Clothesmender" and the gossip are walking to the tailor's house to inspect the room?

9. How does Dunya's father react to the hussar's asking if he can take her to church?

10. What are the two trials the tailor experiences that lead him to his eventual good fortune in "The Clothesmender"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe how Major Kovalyov reacts to the situation of his missing nose in Gogol's "The Nose". What does he do for a living? How does he perceive his station in life? What are his biggest fears about his missing nose?

Essay Topic 2

How does Tolstoy characterize each of the three hermits in "The Three Hermits"? How do these descriptions obscure the true nature of the power that the hermits have? How is this ironic in light of the Bishop's visit to the island?

Essay Topic 3

How is it that Varka becomes a nanny to the cobbler's baby? What has happened to her family? How is she treated by the cobbler and his wife?

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This section contains 835 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample