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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 happened when the watchman hit the schoolboys?

2. Where does Marya's driver say he heard of the recent murder in Moscow?

3. Who is the author of "The Schoolmistress"?

4. Who is Marya's cart driver in "The Schoolmistress"?

5. What was Marya's brother's occupation?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do readers learn of Marya's past at the start of "The Schoolmistress"?

2. Which of Marya's coworkers does she try to get dismissed and what comes of it?

3. What did Hanov do at Marya's school the year before the story takes place?

4. What news from Moscow does Semyon tell Marya he heard at Ivan Ionov's tavern?

5. What is the only thing Marya keeps from her past?

6. What does Marya Vassilyevna do for work? How long has she had the occupation? Where is she going at the start of "The Schoolmistress"?

7. What does Marya think of the school inspector?

8. Describe Hanov.

9. What does Marya think of Hanov as their cart follows his?

10. What does Marya think of on the cart at the start of "The Schoolmistress"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay analyzing Marya’s inner thoughts while riding in the cart. What does she think about? Why? What does this say about Marya and her life?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay examining the cart as a symbol in "The Schoolmistress." In what scenes does the cart seem most important? What is the context? Could the cart be a metaphor for something else? In what ways does the cart move the storyline and develop the narrative?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay analyzing the narrative structure of "The Schoolmistress." What effect does this have on the story and the reader? Use direct examples from the story to support your analysis.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 618 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample