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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 is Mr. Lembke's professional background?

2. Who is on his way to visit at the end of the second chapter?

3. What is Stepan and Peter Verkhovensky's relationship like?

4. When does Part II, Chapter 3 begin?

5. What is Verkhovensky's status in Moscow and St. Petersburg society?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when Peter mentions that Stepan believes that Dasha has fallen into disrepute in Switzerland?

2. What do Erkel and Peter tell Shatov when they meet with him?

3. What is the relationship between Mr. Lembke and Peter Verkhovensky?

4. What is the purpose of the gathering at Mr. Virginsky's house?

5. How do people explain the gathering of workers from the Spigulin factory?

6. What happens when Shatov shows up to meet Peter and Erkel?

7. What stories and events are swirling in the aftermath of the confrontation that ended Part 1?

8. How are Liputin, Shatov and Virginsky described when we meet them?

9. What is Julia Lembke's relationship with the youth of her town?

10. What does Peter tell us about why Nicholas Stavrogin treated Miss Lebyatkin the way he did?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the genre of The Possessed? Is it a realistic novel of Russian life, or is it something else? A philosophical melodrama? A political thriller? An allegory of radicalism?

Essay Topic 2

Are Shatov and Stepan Verkhovensky heroes in The Possessed? Why or why not? Are Peter Verkhovensky and Stavrogin heroes? Are they villains?

Essay Topic 3

What role does innocence play in The Possessed? Is it always sacrificed, as Mary Lebyatkin and Shatov are? Does it endure anywhere, in spite of Mary and Shatov's murders?

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