The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion and the Fall of Imperial Russia

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Several accounts in the book detail the lives of the Romanovs and compare them with the lives of the poor in Russia.

• How do the lives of the upper class in Russia compare to the lower class? (topic sentence)
• Explain three instances in which the lives of the upper class in Russia contrast with those of the lower class.
• In your concluding sentences, explain how class disparity leads to a rebellion in turn-of-the-century Russia.

2. Nicholas’s wife, Alexandra, says she wears “invisible trousers” and takes a dominant role in the couple’s relationship.

• How does Alexandra’s role in the royal family positively and negatively impact their reign? (topic sentence)
• Explain why Alexandra’s influence over her husband was good for Russia, and why it may have impacted the royal family negatively.
• In your concluding sentences, describe whether you believe Alexandra’s influence was positive or negative overall.

3. The political climate in Russia was greatly influenced by civil unrest among the poorer working class.

• What factors led the working class to rebel, resulting in Bloody Sunday? (topic sentence)
• Explain why working-class people were more aware of discrepancies between rich and poor, what they demanded of their tsar in restitution, and how the tsar’s reactions to their demands changed the attitudes of the working class toward the tsar’s leadership.
• In your concluding sentences, explain what Nicholas might have done to resolve conflicts with working-class people.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. When he first becomes the ruler of Russia, Nicholas acknowledges that he is “not prepared to be tsar.” Does Nicholas fail to fulfill his duty to the Russian people as a monarch? Why or why not? Consider the following questions when analyzing Nicholas’s reign: What impact does Nicholas’s father have on his reign? Why does Nicholas feel pressure to behave more like his father in reaction to the people’s rebellions? Do you think Nicholas would have been more successful if he had embraced his true nature? What role might Nicholas’s inadequacy play in his reign? If Nicholas had been more prepared, would he have been able to prevent the revolution?

2. Rasputin is an enigmatic and mysterious figure in the history of the Romanov family. Do you believe Rasputin had bad intentions when dealing with the Romanovs? Why or why not? Write a persuasive essay that examines the differences in Rasputin’s public and private personas—what he shows to the public and what he shows to the royal family—keeping the following questions in mind: Do you think the royal family was tricked into believing in Rasputin, or do you think they overlooked his flaws in favor of his ability to heal their son? Why might people have been more hesitant to trust the royal family when Rasputin was around? What does Rasputin’s character reveal about his personality when he isn’t around the royal family?

3. The people of Russia are failed by their tsar and by the systems of government that come after the tsar’s fall. Write an essay that compares and contrasts the Russian autocracy with that of the new governing system set up by Lenin, using evidence from the text to support your argument, and using the following questions to help guide your focus: How did the lives of the Russians under the autocracy compare with that of the newly formed communist society? Were people happier under the new system of government brought by Lenin? Why did the people distrust the two governing systems? What might have been done by both systems to prevent suffering?