One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Morning, afternoon, evening, and night are the four time periods covered in this novel—one day of Ivan’s life at a Soviet labor camp. In addition to Ivan’s experiences that day, the novel also covers what happens with his squad—how they survive, the directions of their allegiances to each other and their foreman, and how they measure the success of a day.
Major thematic elements: dignity, rules and corruption, justice vs. injustice, faith
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IB Literature and IB Language and Literature Connections
Place of publication: Soviet Union
Language: Russian
Era: 20th
Genre: Fiction
Author: Male
Readers, writers and texts | Time and space | Intertextuality: Connecting texts
Identity | Culture | Creativity | Communication
Perspective | Transformation | Representation
Full text, basic summaries, and overviews
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich | Full text
This is the only full text PDF we’ve found, and it isn’t perfect: there isn’t a single paragraph break in it. An audiobook is available on YouTube—just search the title and “audiobook.”
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One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich | Penguin Random House Canada | Excerpt
This excerpt is from the first pages of the novel.
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One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich | Davar.net | Excerpt
This excerpt is from the same pages as the Penguin Random House Canada link above, but is a different translation.
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One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich | Course Hero | Study Guide
This study guide is comprehensive, with chapter summaries, quotes, symbols, themes, and more.
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One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich | Spark Notes | Study Guide
This study guide is also comprehensive with chapter summaries, literary devices, quick quizzes, and more.
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One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich | The New York Times | Harrison E. Salisbury | Book Review | 1963
This review was published after the novel’s English translation arrived in the United States. In the review, Salisbury discusses the novel’s impact in the Soviet Union and the challenges for an American audience to emotionally understand the world Solzhenitsyn creates.
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One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich | Wikipedia
Wikipedia’s page on this novel covers translations, plot and main characters, history and reception, the film adaptation and more.
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About the author
Alexandr Solzhenitsyn Biographical | The Nobel Prize
This first-person biographical written for The Nobel Prize includes details about Solzhenitsyn’s childhood, military service, experience in work camps, exile, and writing.
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The Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Center
This website is full of information accessible in the toolbar on the top left: blog (about, not written by Solzhenitsyn), writings, life, legacy. Among our favorite resources are this timeline, photo galleries, and a selection of Solzhenitsyn’s major articles, essays and speeches, which include his commencement address at Harvard in 1978, and his Nobel lecture in 1972.
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‘Altered Beyond Recognition’: Solzhenitsyn Came Home to a Different Country in 1994 | Radio Free Europe | Steve Gutterman | Dec. 2018
This article reviews the day Solzhenitsyn returned to Russia, including Solzhenitsyn’s views towards political leaders of the Soviet Union and Russia, the difference between Russia under Putin vs. Yeltsin.
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Obituaries for Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn | Various Sources
Most news organizations covered the death of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn; we’ve listed some of the obituaries here, in descending order of length of article: The New York Times | Los Angeles Times | Reuters | The Guardian | The Christian Science Monitor | BBC News
Articles, essays, and videos about One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich: One Book, One Chicago | Spring 2006 | Chicago Public Library
This website developed by the CPL includes a Solzhenitsyn biography, historical context of the novel, information about The Gulag, glossary of terms, life in the Soviet Union and more.
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Gulag: Soviet Forced Labor Camps and the Struggle for Freedom
This website is dedicated to education about the Gulag, It includes articles and photos of primary sources. The curriculum unit that goes with this website is listed below under the Lesson Plan section of this page.
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Jordan Peterson on Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn | YouTube | John Anderson | 5:27
In this extract from a longer interview (full interview link here), Dr. Jordan Peterson, Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto talks about Solzhenitsyn’s experience in and reflections on the Gulag.
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What It Was Like to Be Held in a Soviet Gulag | YouTube | Weird History | 12:59
This video covers the topic of Gulags well, but does come with some occasionally sassy side comments. It should be great for class, but it’s always a good idea to preview before showing.
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One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Part 1 of 10) | YouTube | John Daniel | 9:52
Film adaptation of the novel. Parts 2-10 should appear in the “suggested videos” column under the main screen.
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Life Into Art: Solzhenitsyn’s Bread of Life | The Oswald Review | Ruth Trimmer | 2006
In this essay, Trimmer examines how Solzhenitzyn presents food in his novel, and how it helps readers to connect with his novel’s characters.
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Freedom Illuminated by Imprisonment in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich | The Oswald Review | Kristine Koslowsky | 2001
From the introduction: “Solzhenitsyn interprets, through his Christian view, the universal and eternal question of freedom, revealing its true nature as the moral duty of sacrifice and self-restraint rather than individual license.”
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Lesson plans and other teaching resources
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich | Liberal Studies Guide
This page includes activities, background articles, and more. If you don’t want to explore the website, the PDF study guide can be found here. Our favorite part of the guide is the identification of passages for Socratic discussion (page 6).
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The Writer Who Changed History: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn | Guide
This guide includes questions and discussion points, and chapter activities, questions, and discussion topics. Throughout the page, additional resources are hyperlinked.
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One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich | NFSchools.net | Study Guide
This PDF has detailed study questions for each part of the novel. Difficulty in questions varies from recall, to discussion, to essay-level.
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One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich | Prestwick House | Sample pages from study guide
This sample includes author biography, unit outline, lesson #1 and writing assignment #1.
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Gulag: Soviet Prison Camps and their Legacy | National Park Service | D. Hosford, P. Kachurin, T. Lamont | Unit Plan
This unit focuses on Gulags rather than the novel, but the activities and information are solid, and could be useful in teaching students about the context of the novel.
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AP Lit Summer Assignment 2018 | Hayfield Secondary
This assignment asks students to choose a text and reflect on the concept of exile in the text.
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Shopping List
Texts and other resources you may find helpful.
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One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Paperback on Amazon.com
The Gulag Archipelago Volume 1
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The Gulag Archipelago Volume 3
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Worldview Guide for One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
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The Gulag Archipelago Volume 2
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The Solzhenitsyn Reader: New and Essential Writings 1947-2005
Paperback on Amazon.com