How Much Land Does a Man Need

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 language 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. Tolstoy’s story centers on Pahóm and his struggle to acquire more land.

• With his envy, greed, and acquisitiveness, is Pahóm a man who stands out from other characters in the story, or is he more of an everyman figure? (topic sentence)
• Identify 2-3 examples from the novel to substantiate your argument.
• How might the lessons of Tolstoy’s story apply to our 21st-century lives in affluent (or not-so-affluent) societies, particularly on the theme of Envy, Greed, and Loss?

2. Consider the presence of the Devil and its relationship with the story’s intended audience.

• Why must a supernatural agent tempt Pahóm into acquisitiveness? (topic sentence)
• Would the story work just as well (or better) for a modern, secular reader if the Devil did not appear, or would that weaken the tale? Find 2-3 examples from the story for your argument.
• How is the presence of the Devil as a character related to the overarching theme of Temptation and the Deadly Sins?

3. Tolstoy eventually took up the radical position of opposing all private possession of land, which he believed exploited the labor of others.

• Is there any suggestion in “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” of Tolstoy’s perspective? (topic sentence)
• Find 2-3 examples in the story that supports this perspective.
• Based on the text, what is Tolstoy’s larger argument concerning Contentment and Community?

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 Tolstoy wrote “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” he believed that literature should provide moral lessons that help people live well. He thought literature should uplift and communicate a simple, universal Christian truth; it should educate people and be intelligible to the common folk, not just the educated elites. Therefore, he thought much of Western art and literature was immoral and even rejected his novel, Anna Karenina, one of the great 19th-century novels, by common consent. Do Tolstoy’s views have merit, or are they too narrow? If you disagree, what role should literature play? If you agree, why?

2. Is Pahóm to blame for wanting to better himself and his family? What is the difference between the desire for a better life and greed? How does one balance beneficial acquisition and acquisitiveness? At what point or points in the story could Pahóm have taken a different course?

3. James Joyce, a famous Irish writer, once declared that “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” was “the greatest story that the literature of the world knows” (Hurn, Rachel. “How Much Land Does a Man Need.” The New Yorker, 15 Feb. 2011). Joyce might have been exaggerating, but do you generally share his opinion of the story? What do you think Joyce saw in the story that was so worthy of praise?