Raskolnikov's Consciousness & Motivations in Crime & Punishment Study Questions (Part I) -, Study notes of Linguistics

Download Raskolnikov's Consciousness & Motivations in Crime & Punishment Study Questions (Part I) - and more Study notes Linguistics in PDF only on Docsity! CRIME AND PUNISHMENT STUDY QUESTIONS (PART I) Whose consciousness filters most of the events and thoughts presented to us in Part I? Notice the setting: weather, the city street and squares, Raskolnikov’s room, the tavern, the greener part where Raskolnikov has his dream About what events does Raskolnikov learn from reading his mother’s letter (Part I, Chapter III)? Analyze the significance of Raskolnikov’s dream (Chapter V). What importance does Raskolnikov accord to coincidences (Chapter VI). Why? What do you make of that fact? Describe the conversation Raskolnikov overhears between two students (Chapter VI). What is the main source of the suspense during the murder scene? (Chapter VII). Who is Lizaveta Ivanovna? How is she described? Was she part of Raskolnikov’s original plan? Begin keeping a list of Raskolnikov’s motivations. List as many as you can find, based only in a careful reading of Part I. Dostoevsky’s text alludes to the idea of self-sacrifice for the sake of others in a number of passages, notably through Marmeladov’s great speech in the tavern where we first hear about his daughter Sonya’s self-sacrificing action of becoming a prostitute (Chapter II) and in Raskolnikov’s reactions to his sister Dunia’s decision to marry Luzhin, as hinted at by their mother Pulcheria Ivanovna in her letter to Raskolnikov (Chapter III, p. 44). Why do Sonya’s and Dunya’s sacrifices torment Raskolnikov? Compare Sonya and Dunya, Sonya and Raskolnikov, and Dunya and Raskolnikov. What parallels do you discern in their situations and actions? Marmeladov, Luzhin, and Svidrigailov all refract different aspects of Raskolnikov in this novel. In employing this compositional principle, Dostoevsky is able to amplify the portrait of his main character and more clearly delineate the ideas with which Raskolnikov is grappling. Compare Marmeladov and Raskolnikov, Luzhin and Raskolnikov, and Svidrigailov and Raskolnikov.