Course
Description
Syllabus
Homework
World
Literature 118
Tolstoy: Late Works Great and Small
(evening)
Take-Home Exams
First Take-home
Exam
4.
Discuss the following citation: “Eight years after The
Death of Ivan Ilych, Tolstoy wrote Master and
7. Discuss A
Spark Neglected Burns the House from
the point of view of the following quotation: “There is no subject so
trivial
that it will not grow to infinite proportions if one’s entire
attentions are
devoted to it.”(From War
and Peace EP I, 3.)
8. Discuss the themes
of guilt and repentance in The
Forged
Coupon.
9. Discuss the proverb that “Evil begets evil” as a recurrent theme in The Forged Coupon.
10.
After the Ball contrasts
beauty and (military) cruelty. Discuss
the cruelty, which Tolstoy presents in this work.
11.
The
story Alyosha Gorshok presents one of
the “meek” character types. Discuss what
defines this archetype and how this definition relates to the message
of the story.
3. Comment on the following citation. For
Tolstoy, “…there are many new departures in
Resurrection. Nekhliudov
is the first Tolstoyan hero to
denounce his class. Maslova is the first
heroine who is not an aristocrat. For
the first time in his novels, the representatives of ‘the people’ far
outnumber
those of the aristocracy” (R. F. Christian, Tolstoy, A
Critical Introduction, p. 222).
4. The Kreutzer Sonata
deals with the
question of free will in Pozdnyshev's explanation to the curious
narrator as to
why he murdered his own wife. To what extent does Pozdnyshev take
responsibility for the murder?
5. Kreutzer Sonata
opens with the quote "But
I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her
hath
committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matt. 5:28).
Relate the biblical citation to Tolstoy's narrative.
6. In Kreutzer
Sonata, Pozdnyshev makes remarks about
his honeymoon as a precursor to his marriage -children , pregnancy, and
sexual inequality. Choose one or more of these areas and discuss.
7. What for? is an extraordinary piece, so critical of those with power and so sensitive about the plight of those people controlled by ubservience to power. Discuss the work from this point of view.
Final Take-home Exam
1.
Tolstoy’s Resurrection is a
scathing
criticism of
2. Pick one or more
topic areas of interest from Tolstoy’s Confession
and write an essay expounding his views and your perceptions of them.
3.
“Ernest J.
Simmons has described…Confession
as ‘...one of the noblest and most courageous utterances of man, the outpouring
of a soul perplexed in the extreme by life’s great problem – the
relation of
man to the infinite...’”
(E. J. Simmons, Leo Tolstoy,
p. 326).
4.
By 1889, (Tolstoy
dies in 1910) the fifty-one year old Tolstoy had come to believe that
he had
accomplished nothing
in life. He poses
the question “What will come of what I do today and tomorrow? What will come of my entire life?”
(Confession, p. 34). How
does Tolstoy answer his own question? How
do you relate to his answer?
5. One of the
fascinating characteristics we find
In Confession is Tolstoy’s criticism
of his own class and acceptance of the peasant class and everything it
stands
for. Discuss what the author is saying.
6. In Confession, Tolstoy rejects the comfortable life of plenty, and embraces the peasant acceptance of suffering and death. For the peasant, death is simply a point on the continuum of life. Discuss the premise. (You might wish to compare some of the ideas in The Death of Ivan Ilych – “…the imminence of death brings humankind to a greater understanding of life.”)
7. All of the
shorter works we have read since
the last exam fall into the category of “didactic literature.” Many of these items are related with the same
stylistic
characteristics common to fairy tales. From
among the following, choose several stories; discuss and or contrast
them,
keeping in mind that their actual date of publication may play a
serious role
in what the author tells his readers. Our
readings have included the following:
Esarhaddon,
King of Adsyria
(1903), Work, Death and Sickness (1903). Three Questions
(1903), Fedor Kuzmich (1905),
Walk
in the Light
While there is Light (1893), Francoise (1982), The
Coffe house of
Surat (1893), and Too Dear (1897), Evil Allures, but
Good
Endures, Little Girls Wiser than Men, Ilyas (1885), Three
Hermits, The
Imp and the Crust (both 1886), The Godson
(both 1886
8. From
the stories listed in question #6,
choose one or more items that are mirrored in Confession
and discuss what Tolstoy means by making a similar
statement in a short work and in the larger, philosophical one.
9. It may be
possible to sum up what Tolstoy’s
late works, great and small, have in common. Propose
a thesis and
support it with your
discussion.
more
topic areas of interest from Tolstoy’s Confession
and write an essay expounding his views and your perceptions of them.
3.
“Ernest J.
Simmons has described…Confession
as ‘...one of the noblest and most courageous utterances of man, the outpouring
of a soul perplexed in the extreme by life’s great problem – the
relation of
man to the infinite...’”
(E. J. Simmons, Leo Tolstoy,
p. 326).
4.
By 1889, (Tolstoy
dies in 1910) the fifty-one year old Tolstoy had come to believe that
he had
accomplished nothing
in life. He poses
the question “What will come of what I do today and tomorrow? What will come of my entire life?”
(Confession, p. 34). How
does Tolstoy answer his own question? How
do you relate to his answer?
5. One of the
fascinating characteristics we find
In Confession is Tolstoy’s criticism
of his own class and acceptance of the peasant class and everything it
stands
for. Discuss what the author is saying.
6. In Confession, Tolstoy rejects the comfortable life of plenty, and embraces the peasant acceptance of suffering and death. For the peasant, death is simply a point on the continuum of life. Discuss the premise. (You might wish to compare some of the ideas in The Death of Ivan Ilych – “…the imminence of death brings humankind to a greater understanding of life.”)
7. All of the
shorter works we have read since
the last exam fall into the category of “didactic literature.” Many of these items are related with the same
stylistic
characteristics common to fairy tales. From
among the following, choose several stories; discuss and or contrast
them,
keeping in mind that their actual date of publication may play a
serious role
in what the author tells his readers. Our
readings have included the following:
Esarhaddon,
King of Adsyria
(1903), Work, Death and Sickness (1903). Three Questions
(1903), Fedor Kuzmich (1905),
Walk
in the Light
While there is Light (1893), Francoise (1982), The
Coffe house of
Surat (1893), and Too Dear (1897), Evil Allures, but
Good
Endures, Little Girls Wiser than Men, Ilyas (1885), Three
Hermits, The
Imp and the Crust (both 1886), The Godson
(both 1886
8. From
the stories listed in question #6,
choose one or more items that are mirrored in Confession
and discuss what Tolstoy means by making a similar
statement in a short work and in the larger, philosophical one.
9. It may be
possible to sum up what Tolstoy’s
late works, great and small, have in common. Propose
a thesis and
support it with your
discussion.