How Much Land Does a Man Need
Study Guide

Comprehension
1. What does Pahom believe is the only trouble that peasants face?

2. How does Pahom come to buy his first parcel of land?

3. List three problems Pahom experiences as he increases his land holdings.

4. How do the Bashkirs determine how much land a man can own?

5. Briefly summarize what happens on the last day of Pahom’s life.

Interpret

6. How and why does Pahom’s attitude toward his first plot of land change?

7. How do Pahom’s and the Bashkirs’ attitudes toward land landownership differ?

8. How does the last sentence in the story reflect the message that answers the title question?

Literary Focus
Parable

9. What is the lesson that Tolstoy’s parable teaches?

Self-Test
"How Much Land Does a Man Need?" Leo Tolstoy

1. According to Pahom, what is the only trouble that peasants face?
They don't have enough people to work the soil.
They don't have enough land.
They don't have enough to eat.

2. How much land can Pahom buy from the Bashkirs?
Pahom can buy as much as he can walk around in one day.
Pahom can buy as as much as he can see before sunset.
Pahom can buy as as much land as he can plant with a bag of seeds.

3. Which of the following best describes Pahom's attitude?
Pahom is completely content.
Pahom is always curious.
Pahom is always dissatisfied.
4. Which of the following statements is true?
Pahom believes in private ownership.
The Bashkirs are a greedy people.
Pahom believes that good fortune should be shared with others.

5. At the end of the story, how much land does Pahom need?
He needs enough land on which to raise livestock.
He needs enough land on which to grow food.
He needs enough land in which to be buried.