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This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. When does his first poem take shape in his mind?

2. Nabokov develops a fondness for what?

3. Who finds himself surrounded by social elites whose view of the Revolution is, at least at first, far more positive than his own?

4. What is a crippling experience for him?

5. What is happening in the larger cities of Western Europe?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Nabokov speaks mainly of his brother and himself as experiencing a liberal education, even though Nabokov has two sisters.

Part 1) Why are they rarely mentioned?

Part 2) What training would be important for a girl in this society?

Part 3) What is the role of women at this time?

Essay Topic 2

Nabokov seems to have a close relationship with his father.

Part 1) Describe their relationship.

Part 2) Compare and contrast Nabokov's relationship with his father and his relationship with his mother.

Part 3) What are possible reasons for the differences in the two relationships?

Essay Topic 3

Nabokov lives a bourgeois, aristocratic life.

Part 1) What evidence from the text suggests this?

Part 2) When and why does this lifestyle end?

Part 3) How does Nabokov handle this change in lifestyle?

(see the answer keys)

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