- What "number" was Ivan?
- Why was this novel allowed to be published in 1962? How did it fit into the process of destalinization in the Soviet Union?
- Why was Ivan in the camp?
- Was there an informal code of behavior in the camp? Did the camp administration succeed in dehumanizing the prisoners?
- With what sorts of crimes had the prisoners been charged?
- Why did Solzhenitsyn write One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich?