View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Luzhin drop that his future wife picks up and returns to him?

2. How long is Luzhin sick after running away?

3. How old is young Luzhin at the beginning of the novel?

4. How long does Luzhin stay at his aunt's?

5. Who interrupts the chess game?

Short Essay Questions

1. What ability does Luzhin compare his ability to read chess notation with?

2. What is on Luzhin's father's mind during his first chess games with his son?

3. The morning after the party, what are relations like between Luzhin's father, his aunt, and his mother?

4. How does Valentinov view Luzhin?

5. How does Luzhin feel about playing chess blind?

6. How is Luzhin affected by spectators at his chess games?

7. What authors does Luzhin like to read?

8. How does Luzhin respond to his fiancee's parents' home?

9. In Chapter 2, what school subject does Luzhin show interest in?

10. How does Luzhin react to being caught cutting school?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss identity and personhood in the novel.

1) Luzhin's identity is wrapped up in chess. Why and how?

2) Does Luzhin fit the definition of a person, as other characters perceive it? How does Luzhin not fit into others' ideas of a "person"?

3) What gives Luzhin identity besides chess playing? What elements add to his identity?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the point of view of the novel.

1) What insight does the reader gain into Luzhin's character through seeing his point of view that other characters are blind to?

2) Why does the author choose to show the points of view that he does at the times that he does? Why does the author show us Luzhin's father's point of view, his wife's point of view, and his mother-in-law's point of view? What insights do these shifts in point of view give the reader?

3) What characters' points of view are not included in the novel? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Luzhin has difficulty with human relationships. Discuss love and human connection in the novel.

1) How does Luzhin form human connections, with his parents, his manager, his wife, his in-laws, and others? How are his human connections different from other people's?

2) Does Luzhin find love in the novel? Does he love others, and does he get love in return? How do his wife and his father love him?

3) Discuss the love relationships other than Luzhin's. How do his parents love or not love each other? How do his in-laws love each other? What other examples of love are there in the novel?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 726 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample