2. Dostoyevsky and Existential Crisis…
Existentialism in its simplest understanding is attempting to answer the questions of why am I here and what is my purpose for being here.  Clearly the term is much more complicated than this, however.
It was Dostoevsky's opinion that suffering was necessary to man…it was a means of atoning for sin and the road to salvation. To give up suffering would be to give up consciousness.
Dostoevsky feels that people are individuals, and it is this individual human element that is lacking from Communism (a doctrine which can only be held seriously by young boys, as he writes in The Brothers Karamazov).

3. Dostoyevsky and Existential Crisis…
Dostoevsky recognized that man is not a static collection of attributes, beliefs, desires, but rather he is an ongoing process.
Dostoevsky frequently highlighted the contradictory drives present within an individual character …
for example: love and hate; a passion for creation and a passion for destruction.
It is the continual interplay between these contradictory passions which is essential to life.
Dostoevsky wrote Crime and Punishment in 1866 to illustrate how suffering leads to redemption of a lost soul (Existential Crisis).
The book’s anti-hero, Raskolnikov, commits an irrational murder.
Dostoevsky did not want to trivialize the crime, but instead wanted to explore the process of redemption.
Unlike Camus’ novel, The Stranger, Raskolnikov’s murder is meant from the beginning to test his beliefs. For Raskolnikov, murder is an experiment in morality.

4. Crime and Punishment Introduction
Read the following poem by Steven Crane. Discuss the theme of the poem (what is the author’s purpose?). Be sure to consider Existentialist Philosophy and how it could connect to Raskolnikov.
A man said to the universe:
"Sir I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation."
Raskolnikov:
Create two lists. One…describe Raskolnikov as a person (personality, mental make-up, etc). Two…describe Raskolnikov’s physical appearance.
What do the two lists share in common? What is different? Do you note any irony between his mental state and his physical appearance?
**focus only on Part One when you create these lists**

5. C & P part 1 Marmeladov= _______________ Sonia= _____________________
Physical description…
Marmeladov principle?
Sonia= _____________________
Stalking of the girl…
Svidrigailov= ________________
In chapter 4, we read about Raskolnikov helping a girl who is about to be raped by some unknown man. Raskolnikov calls this man “Svidrigailov.” We know the man is NOT really Svidrigailov, but what does this scene tell us about what Svidrigailov symbolically represents to Raskolnikov? What is ironic about this entire scene (hint: think about where he going).
The dream…
Hegelian Superman—justification of the murder
Murder: Blunt and Sharp sides of the axe…
Discuss the murders (chapter 7). Why are the two women killed? Take special note as to how each woman is killed. What is symbolically significant about how he murders each woman and what does this reveal about Raskolnikov as a person?

6. Crime and Punishment can be simply broken down into two distinct parts: Part I is the crime; Parts II-VI are the punishment. Today you are focusing on the punishment in Part II of the novel.
Create a list highlighting R’s dual character. Focus on the concepts of Guilt and Rationale Thought. What aspects of his character are racked by guilt and how does that cause him to act. Likewise, what aspects of his character are driven by rational thought and how does this cause him to act? Which is the more dominate personality trait?
Connect the burial of the “loot” from the pawnbroker’s house to the Hegelian Superman. What does the burial prove or disprove about R’s character?
In chapter 6 of Part I, R makes the statement “either disease gives rise to crime or crime is always accompanied by something akin to disease.” Based on what R is going through, debate which part of his theory is correct.
Why “confess” in chapter 6?
BANG! Marmeladov is dead! Run over by a horse and wagon. What is the point of his character and how does this connect to Sonia?
Trace the image of blood in Part II. What does it represent and how does the image shift over the course of this section?

7. C & P Part 3 Character analysis of Svidrigailov
Define the Ordinary Man and the Extraordinary Man
Define “crime”
Who is the Superman in this novel?
Petrovich’s trap?
Justification for the murder and the proof of his theory?
The Dream…
Apply psychological criticism here

8. C & P parts IV and V (Sonia)
1. Sonia’s room.
Symbolic of what?
Originally she was a symbol of human suffering. What has she come to represent by the end of the text?
R’s judgment of Sonia’s sacrifice?
2. Story of Lazarus.
Why this story? Symbolism behind it?
How does this shape Sonia’s character?
A literary Christ figure is someone who sacrifices himself or herself for the betterment of other characters in the story. Consider Sonia. Is she a Christ figure?
3. The confession.
“Who made me a judge to decide who ought to live and who ought not to live?” (Sonia) Consider the implications of this quote.
Consider R’s reasons for and rejections for the murder
See the following pages in the B&N version of the text: 392, 394, 395, 396, 398.
4. Analyze Sv’s throughout parts IV and V.
Monster? Victim? Are he and R the same? (consider your journal response).
Discuss R’s comment at the end of Part IV (pg
341).

9. Nietzschean Superman Does not exist for the benefit of society
Exists for his own personal gratification.
Aims are not prompted by any type of nobility.
Most important aim is self-gratification.
The Superman refuses to recognize any will beyond that of his own will.
The test of this type of superman is that he must stand completely alone and must not allow his will to be influenced by the wishes of others.
Leaves him in complete solitude.

10. C & P part VI (Svidrigailov)
Chapters 3-4:
~ Discuss Sv’s views on women.
~consider both the 16 and 13 year old girls he knew.
~Is he the Nietzsche superman? Explain.
Chapters 5-6:
~Explain Sv’s relationship with Dunia.
~What does he want from her? Why does he not rape her?
~What does Sv symbolically represent in this scene?
~Why suicide (consider Nietzsche’s superman to arrive at
your answer)?

11. C & P part VI (Raskolnikov)
Chapters 7-8:
~Explain R’s final understanding of his crime and his theory.
~Final justification of the murder and the judgment of his theory?
~Does he think he even committed a crime? Explain.
~Why go to Sonia’s? What does she want him to do?
Chapter 8 & Epilogue: Dostoyevsky’s final lines vs. The Epilogue.
“It was I who killed the old pawnbroker woman and her sister Lizaveta with an axe and robbed them.”
Ilia Petrovich opened his mouth. People ran up on all sides.
Raskolnikov repeated his statement.
~Which is a more suitable ending for the novel and explain why.
Use your journal to help.