Notes from the Underground teacher pack
Five weeks of lessons on Notes from the Underground for ages 14 to 18: a plan, a worksheet and the answers for each week, a final essay with a marking guide, and a reading certificate to print. Free to use in class.
Five weeks, week by week
- Week 1Parts 1 to 4
The narrator introduces his isolation and conflicting claims, showing how intense self-awareness turns humiliation and pain into obstacles to action.
Plan · worksheet · answers - Week 2Parts 5 to 9
The narrator explains his inactivity and defends harmful choices, challenging the belief that reason and comfort can satisfy human desires.
Plan · worksheet · answers - Week 3Parts 10 to 13
The narrator rejects perfect order, questions his confessions, and recalls an officer’s insult, connecting abstract defiance with a struggle for equality.
Plan · worksheet · answers - Week 4Parts 14 to 18
Heroic fantasies lead the narrator toward a humiliating dinner and an encounter with Liza, exposing links between wounded pride and power.
Plan · worksheet · answers - Week 5Parts 19 to 22
Liza’s visit exposes the narrator’s shame and cruelty, while her comfort and rejection of money challenge his attempts to dominate her.
Plan · worksheet · answers
Assessment
Final essay
Three questions to choose from, 800 to 1,200 words, with a marking guide in four bands.
Quiz bank
The 30 questions and 40 flashcards online, for homework or a quick check in class. Open the quiz
Discussion
Questions for small groups, meeting by meeting. The book club kit
Reading certificate
Certificate of reading
Student's name
has read
Notes from the Underground
by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Teacher and class
Free for 3 months
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