Class 1
The Prisoner of the Caucuses, 1872
1. How does Tolstoy delineate the
differences between the Russians and the local people of the Caucasus region?
2. Who are the local people of the
Caucasus? How are they presented?
3. Is this short story about war? If
so, what kind of war is it?
4. What is different about Dina? Why
does she help Zhilin to escape?
5. What does the mother’s letter
tell us about Zhilin and his military service?
6. How would you explain the
continuing popularity of Tolstoy’s short story “The Prisoner of the Caucuses”
(1872)?
7. Would it still be read if it was
not by Tolstoy?
8. What characteristics of this
short story make it qualify for (in Tolstoy’s words) ‘good’ art?
Class 2
Hadji Murat, 1896-1904
1. What does the thistle, the
Tatarin, symbolically stand for in the narrative?
2. What other symbols are
discernible in the introduction?
3. What does the narrator reveal
about himself in the introductory part of the novella?
4. The narrative introduces a
succession of characters including Hadji Murat, Sado, Avdeev, Prince Volkonsky,
Poltoratsky, Maria Vassilievna, Vavilo, Nikolai I and Shamil. How does Tolstoy
introduce his characters? Who are they? How do they come to life?
5. How is Hadji Murat introduced in
the narrative? How much do we learn about him from the parts preceding his
encounter with the Vorontsovs?
6. What role does private Avdeev
play in the narrative? Why and how does Tolstoy relate this chracter’s story?
7. What is the meaning of Avdeev’s
remark, “We’re all one big man”? (II, p. 383)
8. How does Tolstoy describe the
narrative’s first battle? (V, p. 395)
9. How is Hadji Murat shown through
the eyes of his former enemies, including Poltoratsky, Voronsov, the soldiers,
the officers?
10. What spoils Prince Vorontsov’s
contentment that Hadji Murat surrendered to him?
11. How does Hadji Murat view his
Russian hosts? Does he trust them? Is he open and candid with them?
12. How does Hadji Murat and his
adversaries, the Russians, come across at Prince Vorontsov the Elder’s dinner
conversation? What does this conversation add to Tolstoy’s portrayal of the
Caucasus war?
13. What are Hadji Murat’s motifs
for joining the Russians? Are his dreams, fears and aspirations realistic?
14. How does Tolstoy portray Nikolai
I? What is his place in the narrative’s “bouquet” of characters?
15. What role does Nikolai I play in
Hadji Murat’s destiny?
16. How does Nikolai I compare to
Shamil?
Class 3
Hadji Murat (continued):
1. In
which way (if at all) do we, the readers, identify with Hadji Murat?
2. Throughout the Russians’ raid into Chechen aoul in January of 1852
officer Butler is merry and joyful. What makes him happy?
3. What does the raid on Sado’s aoul tell us about Russian-Chechen war?
4. How does the friendship between Hadji Murat and Russian officer
Butler develop? What does it tell us about these two characters, the war and
the fighting sides? In which way does it comment on Tolstoy’s big questions
about human nature and our potential for peace and harmony?
5. How does Hadji Murat’s tragedy unravel? Why does he decide to escape
from the Russians?
6. Is Hadji Murat a hero?
7. Does the severed head of Hadfi Murat come as a surprise? Why did
Tolstoy include it in the narrative?
8. How do East and West compare in the figure and life of Hadji Murat?
9. Why
does, in Tolstoy’s view, Hadji Murat
qualify as good universal art?
10. In which way does Hadji Murat
supply answers to Tolstoy’s big questions:
-What prevents people from living in peace and love of universal
brotherhood?
-Why do people continue fighting wars?
-Why is it important to be mindful of—not to neglect—the fact of human
mortality?
-Are people capable of overcoming their cultural differences, which,
according to Tolstoy divide them?
Class 4
The Death of
Ivan Ilyich, 1884-1886
1. How does the opening, where Ivan Ilyich's «closest friend», Petr
Ivanovich, is the center of attention, fit into this short story?
2. What is Ivan Ilyich's background?
3. How does he understand life? What are his tasks,
aspirations and grievances?
4. How do the details of his life and career comment on
his death?
5. What, according to this story, are the shared beliefs of the living?
6. In which way does Ivan Ilyich differ from the others? How do the
changes that he undergoes alienate him from all of them? Why?
7. What are the most important landmarks of Ivan Ilyich’s life?
8. What does the illness and accompanying it suffering reveal to Ivan
Ilyich?
9. Why does Gerasim become such a crucial person in Ivan Ilyich’s life?
10. Why is this short story considered a masterpiece?
Master and
Man, 1894-1895
1.
What kind of man is Vasilii Andreevich Brekhunov? What does he think about
himself?
2.
In which way(s) is Brekhunov a master?
3.
What is Brekhunov’s spirituality/faith?
4.
What kind of man is Nikita?
5. What are Vasilii Andreevich’s motifs for undertaking the trip?
6. What are his motifs for the last altruistic action? Are the latter believable?
7. This short story was accused by the critics of excessive length and
of abundance of unnecessary details. Do you agree with such an assessment?
8. How does the author build the story’s inner suspense?
9. How does Tolstoy build Brekhunov’s epiphany?
10. Does the ending of this short story come as a surprise?
11. What in your opinion is this story’s main theme?
Class 5
Three Deaths, 1858
1. What is the key to the coachman’s peace and patience in the face of
death?
2. How does the noble woman die? What are the causes of her regrets
and suffering?
3. Why does the word “body” figure in the story?
4. How does the tree die? In which sense (according to Tolstoy) is this
death beautiful?
5. What is the interconnection between the three lives, which end up in
deaths?
After the Ball, 1903
1. How does Leo Tolstoy
structure his short story After the Ball?
2. How does
Tolstoy portray the main characters?
3. What do the
narrator's comments and life choices tell us about his worldview?
4. Would you say
that the related episode had a crucial importance for the main
character's/narrator's life?
Part 2
Class 1
The
Forged Coupon, 1880, 1902-1904
1. Does
this short story plot have a uniting core?
2. Why,
in your opinion, is it called ‘The Forged Coupon'?
3. What
are this short story's main ideas?
4. In
which way is it different from other (not only Tolstoy’s) short stories?
5. Who in
this short story are the evil-doers? What are their motifs?
6. What
makes people victims of the evil-doers?
7. What
kind of person is Maria Semenovna? What are her convictions and/or faith? Is
she a victim?
8. In
which way does the encounter between Stepan Pelageiushkin and Maria Semenovna
stand out? (chapters XVI, XXIII)
9. Who
are the righteous ones in the story? Do they belong to the Church? How do they
convert to the righteous life and the right way of thinking?
10. What
is the role of the scene in the church, when Father Mikhail confronts the
sectarians?
The Diary of a Madman, 1884
1. What
does the narrator mean when he says that he knows that he is a madman?
2. What,
according to the narrator caused the onset of madness in his early childhood?
What were the symptoms of his madness?
3. What
brought his madness back?
4. What
evokes the narrator's anger and anxiety?
5. How
did the narrator deal with his predicament?
6. What
insight did the narrator have in the end?
Class 2
Family happiness, 1859
1. How does Tolstoy portray Masha/Marya
Aleksandrovna’s stages of maturation?
2. How do Masha and Sergei Mikhailych experience her
performance of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”? What role does this musical
event play in the novella? (part 1, chapter 1)
3. What is Sergei Mikhailych’s role in Masha’s
relationship with music?
4. What is Sergei Mikhailych’s attitude towards
marriage? Why does he initially refuse to marry?
5. What does Sergei Mikhailych want Masha to become?
6. Would you agree that Masha capitalizes on her
performing ability to manipulate Sergei Mikhailych into liking her?
7. What is the significance of Masha’s performance of
Mozart? (part 1, chapter 3)
8. In the end of chapter 4 (part 1) Masha and Sergei
Mikhailych are telling each other what they think about their relationship as
they invent a hypothetical story. Do any of those scenarios reflect the truth
about their situation?
9. What did Maria Aleksandrovna’s family happiness
consist of?
10. How would you describe the novella’s musical
events and their impact on the participants?
11. What ruined Maria Aleksandrovna’s family
happiness?
12. What role does the “Moonlight sonata” play in the
couple’s reconciliation?
Class 3
The Kreutzer
Sonata, 1889
1. What kind of man is Pozdnyshev? Would you consider
him an ordinary or an extraordinary individual?
2. What are Pozdnyshev’s problems, fears and concerns?
3. Why does he tell his story?
4. What kind of narrator is he? Is he reliable?
5. What is the nature of Pozdnyshev’s conflict?
6. How does the narrating Pozdnyshev differ from the
narrated one?
7. How does the failed-marriage theme develop The Kreutzer Sonata? What are the causes
of this failure?
8. Does the narrative provide the proof of
Pozdnyshev’s wife’s infidelity?
9. Why does Pozdnyshev’s wife remain nameless?
10. Why did the home music recital, a seemingly
routine social event, turn into a murder story?
11. Does it come as a surprise that Pozdnyshev was
acquitted
12. Why is this short story called The Kreutzer Sonata?
Class 4
The Devil, 1889
1. On the first pages (165) of his novella The Devil, Tolstoy claims that Evgeny Irteniev was a conservative. How does the narrative explain this claim?
2. What are the protagonist’s reasons for seeking sex services of a peasant woman?
3. What is Irtenev’s opinion about love and sex? What kind of moral convictions does he have?
4. What kind of girl does he choose to be his wife?
5. What makes Evgeny Irtenev believe that he is free from Stepanida?
6. How does Irtenev’s “mental crime” (187) come to haunt him? What does he intend to do about his obsession with Stepanida?
7. What does Irtenev’s confession to his uncle tell us about these two men and their society in general?
8. What does Irtenev realize in the end? (ch. XX, 203) What makes him believe that Stepanida is a devil?
9. Which of the two endings would you choose for this story?
10. How does the society interpret Irtenev’s crimes (homicide and suicide)?
Father Sergius, 1898
1. Who is
Prince Stepan Kasatsky?
2. Why
does Kasatsky take holy orders?
3. What changes
does the character undergo in the story?
4. How
does Kasatsky find his path to God?
Class 5
What Men Live by? 1885
1. How does the narrative build the image of the angel? What words are
used to describe him?
2. How does the narrative present Simon and his wife Matrena?
3. What examples of contrast do we find in this short story?
4. What insight does this short story formuate?
The Three Hermits, 1886
1. Why does the bishop want
to see the three hermits?
2. Why does this short
story present us with three different portrayals of the three hermits? What
role do these three representations play in the text?
3. How do this short story’s
characters interpret the three hermits’ habit to keep silence?
4. What are the bishop’s
main characteristics? How do they compare to those of the hermits?
5. What insight/ethical
message does Tolstoy want to communicate through this story?
6. Why, do you think, this
short story was banned by Russian censorship?
Alyosha the Pot, 1905
1. What kind of man is
Alyosha the Pot? What is Alyosha’s most salient characteristic? How would you
describe his “philosophy” of life?
2. How does the narrative change when Ustinia becomes a part of the
story?
3. Why does not Alyosha
marry?
4. What event would you identify as this short story’s climax?
5. Is Alyosha’s death
tragic? How does it compare to the deaths of Tolstoy’s other characters?
