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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 Golyadkin Junior tell Golyadkin about his living arrangements?

2. What does Klara Olsufyevna’s letter to Golyadkin Junior claim?

3. What does Golyadkin imagine telling Golyadkin Junior?

4. What sensation does the reader get when Golyadkin says that he keeps to the straight and narrow, and that he despises deviousness?

5. What tone does Golyadkin take in his letter to Golyadkin Junior?

Short Essay Questions

1. What requests does Golyadkin make of Petrushka?

2. What response does Golyadkin get to his letter?

3. What does the narrator say about Golyadkin’s tendency to exacerbate his feelings?

4. What happens after Golyadkin leaves the office at the end of the day?

5. What trick does Golyadkin Junior play on Golyadkin when he leaves the coffee house where they have been talking?

6. What are Golyadkin’s feelings as he concludes the night with Golyadkin Junior?

7. What is Golyadkin Junior like when Golyadkin finds him at the office?

8. How does Golyadkin Junior take advantage of Golyadkin?

9. How does Golyadkin plan to resolve the situation with Golyadkin Junior?

10. What profound experience does Golyadkin have in his sleep?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the process of reading The Double. What themes does Dostoevsky weave through the text? What clues does he drop throughout?

Essay Topic 2

Where is the climax of this book? Are there different climaxes? What questions does each climax resolve? What questions does each climax leave unanswered?

Essay Topic 3

In what ways is The Double relevant to contemporary readers? What contemporary issues are in play in the book, and how would the book contribute to contemporary discussion? Cite specific discussions from contemporary sources, and cite specific instances from the book, that describe its contemporary relevance.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 900 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample