The Master and Margarita, Chapter 11: Ivan Splits in Two quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Who is Ivan's statement at the start of Chapter 11 addressed to?

   • Correct answer: The police, as a formal statement
   • Professor Stravinsky himself
   • The head of Griboedov's restaurant
   • The editorial board of Massolit

   The statement opens "To the police" and comes from Ivan as a Massolit member, Ivan Nikolaevich Homeless.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Why does the word 'deceased' confuse Ivan as he writes?

   • He cannot remember how to spell it
   • He fears it will upset Berlioz's family
   • The nurse tells him it sounds too cold
   • Correct answer: The dead cannot go anywhere

   Writing that he came to the Ponds 'with the deceased' Berlioz seems nonsensical: the dead go nowhere, and he might be taken for a madman.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What does Ivan decide to open with to catch the reader's attention?

   • His chase in his underpants
   • Correct answer: A cat getting on a tram-car
   • A warning about the foreign professor
   • The spilled sunflower oil

   He decides to begin with something very strong, so he writes that a cat had got on a tram-car.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What does Praskovya Fyodorovna do when she finds Ivan weeping in the storm?

   • She sits down and reads his pages aloud
   • She opens the window wide to let in the air
   • Correct answer: She closes the blinds and runs for the doctor
   • She scolds him and orders him back to bed

   She closes the blinds so the lightning won't frighten him, picks up the pages and runs with them for the doctor.

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5. 5

   Question 5. What does Ivan say is all he knew about Berlioz?

   • That he lived near the Patriarch's Ponds
   • That he edited a thick magazine
   • Correct answer: That he was bald and terribly eloquent
   • That he loved music and the opera

   The new Ivan admits he knew 'Nothing except that he was bald and terribly eloquent.'

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6. 6

   Question 6. According to the new Ivan, what should he have done at the Ponds?

   • Warned Berlioz about the tram-car
   • Correct answer: Asked the stranger about Pilate
   • Called the police right there
   • Followed the stranger quietly home

   He wishes he had politely questioned the consultant about what happened further on with Pilate and his prisoner Ha-Nozri.

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7. 7

   Question 7. How does Ivan react when the bass voice calls him 'A fool!'?

   • He leaps up and searches the room
   • He begins his statement all over
   • He shouts for the night attendant
   • Correct answer: He is pleasantly surprised and smiles

   For some reason not offended, but 'even pleasantly surprised,' Ivan smiles and drowsily grows quiet.

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8. 8

   Question 8. Which of these happen during the storm and its aftermath?

   • Ivan tries to draw Pontius Pilate and a cat on its hind legs.

     Happened

     As he works on the statement, Ivan even tries to draw Pontius Pilate and then a cat standing on its hind legs.

   • The doctor gives Ivan a pill to swallow.

     Didn't happen

     The doctor gives Ivan no pill: he gives him an injection in the arm and assures him he will not weep any more.

   • A rainbow stretches across the sky after the storm.

     Happened

     After the injection the sky clears, the river grows calm, and Ivan lies looking at the rainbow that stretches across the sky.

   • Ivan finishes his statement and sends it to the police.

     Didn't happen

     Ivan never finishes: he feels he will never manage the statement, and the nurse carries the scattered pages off to the doctor.

   • Ivan drinks some hot milk in the evening.

     Happened

     In the evening Ivan drinks some hot milk, lies down again and marvels at how changed his thinking is.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these happen as night falls in the clinic?

   • Faint blue night-lights replace the white lights in the corridors.

     Happened

     As the clinic falls asleep, the frosted white lights in the corridors go out and faint blue night-lights are lit.

   • The former Ivan says the stranger knew Berlioz's head would be cut off.

     Happened

     The former Ivan objects sternly that the consultant did know beforehand that Berlioz's head would be cut off.

   • Ivan rings for Praskovya Fyodorovna to bring him more paper.

     Didn't happen

     Ivan rings for no one: he lies calmly, talking things over with himself, until sleep begins to steal over him.

   • A man on the balcony presses a finger to his lips and whispers.

     Happened

     A man appears on the balcony, presses a finger to his lips and whispers to Ivan for silence.

   • The man on the balcony tells Ivan his name.

     Didn't happen

     The man gives no name in this chapter; he only presses a finger to his lips and whispers for silence.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What does 'redaction' mean as used in: 'He had to have recourse to a third redaction'?

    • Correct answer: A revised draft of a text
    • A formal police complaint
    • A crossed-out signature
    • A doctor's written order

    A redaction is an edited version of a text; Ivan is on his third attempt at the sentence about Berlioz.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does 'languor' mean as used in: 'Now Ivan lay in sweet languor'?

    • Sharp, nervous anxiety
    • Deep, bitter and lasting sorrow
    • Correct answer: Pleasant, dreamy relaxation
    • Restless, angry impatience

    After the injection Ivan is calm and drowsy; languor is a pleasant, relaxed tiredness.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'rumpus' mean as used in: 'instead of raising a stupid rumpus at the Ponds'?

    • A sudden illness
    • Correct answer: A noisy commotion
    • A secret plan
    • A long, boring speech

    A rumpus is a noisy disturbance, like Ivan's furious chase after the consultant.

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