Blogging in AP Literature and Composition
Our blog location:
http://www.classblogmeister.com
Mrs. Cairns will guide you through blogging on our site and the ins and outs.
Today’s Task:
To practice using our blog, please respond to the following:
Raskolnikov, Luzhin, Svidrigaïlov, Zametov, Marmeladov and Razhumikin have some
symbolic meanings in their last names. For every Russian reader it is the obvious fact;
however, in translation the meaning of names becomes lost.
Raskol’nik – schismatic
Luzha – puddle
Razum – reason, intelligence
Zametit’ – to notice
Marmelad – sort of sweet candy
Svidrigaïlov – name from the medieval Russian history, Lithuanian prince
Based upon your reading of the novel thus far, explain the symbolic meaning of one
character’s name.
Future Task: Use the class blog to create your response to one of the
following essay prompts. Your essay should address the prompt
insightfully and thoroughly. Quotes from the text should be
incorporated throughout your response as support for your thesis.
Please use proper MLA format.
1. Compare Dostoevsky’s Raskolnikov with Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
2. Explore the role suffering plays in the novel. – How does each character suffer and
feel about suffering? Who suffers the greatest in the novel?
3. Trace the biblical references in the novel and explain why Dostoevsky uses them.
4. Trace the progression of dreams in the novel and explain how Dostoevsky uses them
to enhance the novel’s theme(s).
5. Evaluate Raskolnikov according to the “superman” theory.
6. Compare Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov, especially in regard to their moral culpability.
7. The crime occurs very early in the novel leaving the rest of the novel to entertain
theories of punishment. Discuss the different forms of punishment and the concepts of
law present in the novel.