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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. Where does Luzhin sit during recess?

2. What habit of Luzhin's particularly annoys his future wife's mother?

3. What kind of puzzles does Luzhin enjoy doing?

4. During the beginning of the chess game with Turati, who seems to be winning?

5. How many games does it take before Luzhin's opponent begins having difficulty beating him?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does Luzhin feel about playing chess blind?

3. How does Luzhin behave on walks with his future wife and her mother?

4. Describe Luzhin's future wife when he meets her in Germany.

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

6. How does Luzhin's father compare his son to fictional characters?

7. How doe Luzhin's fiancee seem like a dream to him?

8. What happens when Luzhin is found hiding in his family's house at the end of Chapter 1?

9. Who does Luzhin nearly run into on the first day he skips school?

10. How does Luzhin senior's wife react when he has to go to town for the day?

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 Luzhin's character.

1) How is Luzhin different from other people? What are the consequences to him in his life?

2) Why is Luzhin obsessed with chess? What does Luzhin see and enjoy that most people don't?

3) What kind of world would Luzhin be happy in? In what ways is Luzhin mismatched to society, and why?

Essay Topic 3

Luzhin is a master chess player. Discuss chess in the novel.

1) When Luzhin sees a chess board, the pieces are just placeholders. He perceives something entirely abstract behind the board. What is it that Luzhin perceives? Why is it appealing to him? What does his relationship with chess show about his personality?

2) Near the end of the novel, Luzhin sees his life as a chess game. How is his life like a game of chess? Who is his opponent? What is he attempting to win? How does the chess analogy show how Luzhin is perceiving his world and his limitations in perceiving the world?

3) Why does Luzhin feel the need to hide his love for chess? In what ways is Luzhin ambivalent about chess? Is chess truly deadly unhealthy for Luzhin, as his psychiatrist says?

(see the answer keys)

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