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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 fault does Luzhin's fiancee find with the material Luzhin selects?

2. Where is the first place Mrs. Luzhin suggests they travel?

3. What is the Luzhins' maid particularly bat at?

4. What does Luzhin teach himself, after visiting his father-in-law's office?

5. What are townspeople doing in the area where there are tennis courts in the summer, at the beginning of Chapter 13?

Short Essay Questions

1. At the ball, how does Mrs. Luzhin compare the movie actresses to her husband in her mind?

2. How does Luzhin kill himself?

3. What does Luzhin's psychiatrist ask him about?

4. How does Luzhin falling unconscious affect his fiancee?

5. What is Luzhin doing when Ivan knocks over the lamp?

6. How does Luzhin react after meeting an old acquaintance at the ball?

7. How does Luzhin's fiancee feel about their new apartment as she furnishes it?

8. What does Luzhin realize when he overhears his wife talking to her visitor?

9. What letter does Luzhin send to a stranger?

10. What does Luzhin think is the point of the "game" being played against him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the psychiatric treatment of Luzhin in the book.

1) How does the psychiatrist view Luzhin? How does the psychiatrist's point of view and perspective affect how he treats Luzhin? Discuss the psychiatrist's ideas on Luzhin's childhood, on chess, and on marriage for Luzhin.

2) How effective is the psychiatrist's treatment of Luzhin? How does it benefit Luzhin, and how does it fail?

3) What affects the psychiatrist's ability to treat Luzhin?

Essay Topic 2

Luzhin's father expects his son to follow the patterns of the father's novels. Discuss Luzhin's father's expectations.

1) What effects do his father's expectations have on Luzhin? How much is Luzhin aware of his father's expectations, and how does he react to them?

2) How are Luzhin's father's expectations echoed in his wife's expectations?

3) What would Luzhin's father's relationship with a normal, average son be like? How would his expectations play out?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss art and reflections of reality in the novel.

1) How is Luzhin's father's writing a reflection of reality? How is it a projection of his father's desires, a world of wish fulfillment? How does his writing compare to reality?

2) How do Luzhin's drawings reflect reality, and how do they reflect his perception of reality?

3) How is Luzhin's chess playing an art, and how is it not an art? How does it relate and compare to music? How does it reflect reality? How does it show Luzhin's perception of reality and his own wish fulfillment?

(see the answer keys)

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