Paper Requirements / Info:

1.) 4 – 6 pages in length

2.) double spaced, 12 point font (Courier New, Times New Roman, Arial), 1 inch
margins
3.) Due ____________________
4.) Consult grade sheet

IDEAS FOR TOPICS

1.) Describe the importance of the city to the plot. How does the city serve as a symbol of society
and of Raskolnikov’s state of mind?

2.) What impact do the descriptions of the various apartments have on our understanding of the
characters who inhabit them and the events that take place within them?

3.) Compare the characters of Raskolnikov and Razumikhin. How does Razumikhin describe
Raskolnikov, and vice versa? Does Razumikhin serve as Raskolnikov’s foil?

4.) Compare the characters of Svidrigailov and Sonya. How does each reveal aspects of
Raskolnikov’s character?

5.) Competing with the novel’s many realistic scenes are sequences shaped by dreams and
hallucinations. Discuss the influence these scenes have on the characters’ thoughts and actions or
what these scenes reveal about underlying themes.

7.) Why make Sonya the principal outside agent of Raskolnikov’s redemption?

8.) Why make Sonya a prostitute?

9.)Discuss Dostoevksy’s apparent relationship to Christianity

10.) In what way does this novel explore the relationship between faith and reason?

11.) What is (are) the nature of Raskolnikov’s punishment(s)?

12.) Choose a specific critical approach (Marxist, Feminist, Psychoanalytic), develop a specific
thesis based on it, and write an essay.

13.) Choose a specific motif. Trace its development as a motif and discuss what it reveals about
underlying themes.

14.) Are female characters portrayed as passive / dominated / victimized to male

patriarchy?

15.) How is Razuhuimnninnin an example philosophical foil to Raskolnikov?