The Endless Steppe

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students' familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

What is it like to live in Siberia? How would you need to adapt if you had to move there?

Teaching Suggestion: One of the novel's settings is Rubtsovsk, in Siberia—an area that accounts for 10% of the world's land surface yet only 0.5% of the world's population. Consider building student interest in this setting by having them share what they already know about Siberia and then research what life is like in Siberia. Students may benefit from reflecting on and discussing their own adaptability, engaging with the novel's theme of Adaptability and Resistance to Change. To help students get started, you might offer interesting details or direct students to these or similar resources:

• “For 40 Years, This Russian Family Was Cut Off From All Human Contact, Unaware of World War II”—Smithsonian Magazine article about Soviet geologists' discovery of a family of six living in isolation in a remote part of Siberia
• “Climate Change Could Make Siberia an Attractive Place to Live”—2017 article examining Siberian population, resources, and climate