Vanka quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Which literary genres best describe "Vanka"?

   • Mystery & Detective Fiction
   • Correct answer: Realism & Christmas Story
   • Fantasy & Fairy Tale
   • Adventure & Escape Story
   • Comedy & Farce

   Realism & Christmas Story is the best fit. Chekhov shows a poor child's life exactly as it is, with herring, boot-stretchers, and bread for dinner, and sets it on Christmas Eve, when Vanka's longing for home is strongest.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Who is Vanka Zhukov?

   • A shoemaker's son who helps his father
   • A boy who lives with his grandfather
   • Correct answer: A nine-year-old apprentice to a shoemaker
   • A servant boy in a rich family's house in Moscow

   "VANKA ZHUKOV, a boy of nine, who had been for three months apprenticed to Alyahin the shoemaker, was sitting up on Christmas Eve."

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3. 3

   Question 3. Why can Vanka write his letter in secret?

   • Correct answer: They have gone to the midnight church service
   • They are visiting relatives in the village
   • They are working late in the shop downstairs tonight
   • They are asleep upstairs in their bedroom

   He waits "till his master and mistress and their workmen had gone to the midnight service."

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4. 4

   Question 4. How old is Vanka's grandfather?

   • Fifty
   • Seventy-two
   • Eighty
   • Correct answer: Sixty-five

   He is "a thin but extraordinarily nimble and lively little old man of sixty-five."

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5. 5

   Question 5. What is grandfather Konstantin Makaritch's job?

   • He is a woodcutter in the forest
   • Correct answer: He is a night watchman for a family
   • He is the coachman for the family
   • He is a shoemaker in the village

   He "was night watchman to a family called Zhivarev," walking round the grounds at night tapping his little mallet.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What does "Nimble" mean in this story?

   • Correct answer: Quick and light
   • Grumpy and cross
   • Slow and clumsy
   • Tired and weak

   Grandfather is "a thin but extraordinarily nimble and lively little old man": nimble means quick and light in movement.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What happened to Vanka when he fell asleep rocking the cradle?

   • He was sent out into the snow without his boots
   • He was made to work all night in the shop
   • Correct answer: He was dragged by the hair and beaten with a boot-stretcher
   • He was locked in the cold cellar and given no supper at all

   "The master pulled me out into the yard by my hair, and whacked me with a boot-stretcher because I accidentally fell asleep while I was rocking their brat in the cradle."

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8. 8

   Question 8. What is Vanka given to eat each day?

   • Whatever the workmen leave on their plates
   • Meat and potatoes at every single meal
   • Soup and tea three times every day
   • Correct answer: Bread, porridge, and bread again

   "In the morning they give me bread, for dinner, porridge, and in the evening, bread again; but as for tea, or soup, the master and mistress gobble it all up themselves."

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9. 9

   Question 9. Why hasn't Vanka run away to the village?

   • Correct answer: He has no boots and is afraid of the frost
   • His master keeps the door locked at night
   • He promised his grandfather he would stay
   • He does not know which road leads back to his home

   "I wanted to run away to the village, but I have no boots, and I am afraid of the frost."

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10. 10

    Question 10. What does Vanka ask his grandfather to save for him from the Christmas tree?

    • A silver kopeck
    • A fishing-hook
    • Correct answer: A gilt walnut
    • A toy gun

    "Get me a gilt walnut, and put it away in the green trunk."

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11. 11

    Question 11. What did Olga Ignatyevna do for Vanka?

    • She promised to adopt him when he grew up
    • She sent him to work at the shoemaker's in Moscow
    • She gave him a concertina for Christmas
    • Correct answer: She taught him to read, write, count, and dance

    She "taught him to read and write, to count up to a hundred, and even to dance a quadrille." That is why Vanka can write his letter at all.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does "Tremulous" mean in this story?

    • Calm and steady
    • Correct answer: Shaking with feeling
    • Loud and angry
    • Slow and sleepy

    "Vanka gave a tremulous sigh, and again stared at the window." Tremulous means trembling, here with homesickness.

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13. 13

    Question 13. Why will the letter never reach grandfather?

    • He spells his grandfather's name wrong
    • Correct answer: He writes only "To grandfather in the village"
    • He forgets to put a stamp on the envelope he bought
    • He puts the letter in the wrong post-box

    The address reads only "To grandfather in the village," then "Konstantin Makaritch"; there is no village name, so no postman could deliver it.

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14. 14

    Question 14. What is the dramatic irony at the end of the story?

    • Correct answer: Vanka's hopes rest on a letter that cannot arrive
    • Vanka's master has secretly read the whole letter
    • Vanka's mother is still alive in the village
    • Vanka's grandfather is already on his way to Moscow

    Vanka falls asleep "lulled by sweet hopes," dreaming his grandfather is reading the letter, while readers know it has no real address.

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15. 15

    Question 15. What does "Lulled" mean in this story?

    • Kept wide awake
    • Woken suddenly
    • Correct answer: Soothed and calmed
    • Frightened badly

    "An hour later, lulled by sweet hopes, he was sound asleep." To be lulled is to be soothed into sleep or calm.

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16. 16

    Question 16. What does Vanka dream about?

    • Grandfather arriving at the shoemaker's door in Moscow at dawn
    • Vanka walking home through the snowy forest
    • Olga Ignatyevna decorating the Christmas tree
    • Correct answer: Grandfather on the stove reading the letter to the cooks

    "On the stove was sitting his grandfather, swinging his bare legs, and reading the letter to the cooks. . . . By the stove was Eel, wagging his tail."

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17. 17

    Question 17. What is a central theme of "Vanka"?

    • Correct answer: A child's hope is helpless against a harsh world
    • Grandparents should never be trusted
    • Hard work always leads to success
    • Cities are always better places to live than villages

    Vanka's letter is full of love and hope, but he is a powerless child in a cruel workshop, and even his one plan for rescue cannot succeed.

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18. 18

    Question 18. Which of these events actually happened in the story?

    • Vanka writes with a pen with a rusty nib on a crumpled sheet of paper.

      Happened

      He takes "a pen with a rusty nib" and spreads out "a crumpled sheet of paper."

    • The dog Eel sneezes when given snuff.

      Didn't happen

      "Eel does not sneeze, from politeness, but wags his tail."

    • The mistress thrust a herring's head in Vanka's face.

      Happened

      He cleaned the herring from the tail end, and she "thrust its head in my face."

    • Vanka buys a stamp at the post office.

      Didn't happen

      He bought only an envelope "for a kopeck" and ran to the nearest post-box.

    • Vanka puts on his greatcoat before running to the post-box.

      Didn't happen

      He ran out "without putting on his little greatcoat" in his shirt.

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