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Essay Questions
1. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich can be read on three different levels of meaning. Give a coherent review of each, providing examples from the work and show how the three levels are related to each other.
2. Cancer Ward is another work by Alexander Solzhenitsyn which deals with life in a Soviet prison. Show the similarities and dissimilarities in the two works.
3. Leo Tolstoy has said that a novel can deal with either centuries of European history or with one day in one man's life. Show how this short novel deals with both one day in Ivan Denisovich Shukhov's life and with a piece of European history at the same time.
4. Compare One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich with one or more prison or POW novels (some titles have been suggested in this text).
5. Give a brief, interpretive comparison between the awardwinning play and motion picture Stalag 17 and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Is it possible to imagine a humorous treatment of Solzhenitsyn's theme?