White Nights, Nastenka's Story quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Why does grandmother pin Nastenka's dress to her own?

   • Because Nastenka had Fekla, the deaf charwoman, sit in her place while she went out
   • Because grandmother feared Nastenka would fall for the pleasant-looking new lodger
   • Correct answer: Because Nastenka got into some unspecified mischief at fifteen and grandmother wants her close
   • Because Nastenka once gathered her clothes in a parcel and tried to escape to Moscow

   After Nastenka's vague "mischief" at fifteen, her blind grandmother pins their dresses together so Nastenka can never wander off unsupervised.

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2. 2

   Question 2. How does Nastenka's trick with the charwoman Fyokla end?

   • Correct answer: Grandmother asks Fyokla a question she cannot hear, and Fyokla panics and runs off
   • The lodger notices Fyokla sitting in Nastenka's place and tells grandmother himself
   • Fyokla happily keeps the secret and nothing ever goes wrong
   • Grandmother catches Nastenka the moment she tries to leave the room

   Fyokla is deaf and cannot answer grandmother's question, so she undoes the pin and flees, exposing the deception.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What does the new lodger send Nastenka so she has something to do?

   • A set of embroidery patterns for her needlework
   • Correct answer: Novels by Walter Scott and, later, works by Pushkin
   • A collection of French newspapers describing life in Moscow
   • Sheet music so she can practice for the opera

   The lodger sends over Walter Scott's novels first, then Pushkin, to keep Nastenka occupied during her long days with grandmother.

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4. 4

   Question 4. How does the lodger arrange for Nastenka to go to the opera without impropriety?

   • He persuades her to go secretly, without her grandmother's knowledge
   • He asks Fyokla to go along with Nastenka as a chaperone for the evening
   • He sends a note with Walter Scott's novels asking grandmother's permission
   • Correct answer: He invites Nastenka's grandmother along as well, using a spare ticket

   The lodger says a friend's opera ticket for The Barber of Seville was left unused, and pointedly invites grandmother too, making the outing respectable.

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5. 5

   Question 5. Why does the lodger say he cannot marry Nastenka the night before he leaves for Moscow?

   • Correct answer: He explains that he is too poor and lacks any steady position
   • He reveals that he is secretly already engaged to another woman
   • He says grandmother would never permit the marriage to happen
   • He claims he must first ask permission from relatives back home

   The lodger tells Nastenka he has "nothing, not even a decent berth," so he cannot yet support a wife.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What does the lodger ask Nastenka to do while he is away in Moscow?

   • Write to him every single week without exception
   • Tell her grandmother everything as soon as he departs
   • Move to Moscow herself so they can be married immediately
   • Correct answer: Wait a year while he tries to establish a steady position

   He promises that if he ever marries anyone it will be her, but asks for a year to establish himself before he can commit to more.

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7. 7

   Question 7. Why does Nastenka at first refuse to write the lodger a letter?

   • She believes the lodger no longer lives at the same address
   • She thinks grandmother would find out and forbid it immediately
   • Correct answer: She worries it would look like she is forcing herself on him
   • She is afraid the narrator and the lodger already dislike each other

   Nastenka's pride makes her reluctant to appear as though she is pursuing the lodger, even though he made her a promise.

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8. 8

   Question 8. Which of these events actually occur in "Nastenka's Story"?

   • Nastenka's grandmother pins her dress to her own after Nastenka's mischief at fifteen.

     Happened

   • Nastenka successfully runs away to Moscow with the lodger the night before he leaves.

     Didn't happen

   • The lodger takes Nastenka and her grandmother to see The Barber of Seville.

     Happened

   • Nastenka only decides to write to the lodger after the narrator suggests the idea.

     Didn't happen

   • The lodger has been back in the city for three days without visiting or writing to Nastenka.

     Happened

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9. 9

   Question 9. What does "berth" mean as the lodger uses it in: "I am a poor man, for I have nothing, not even a decent berth"?

   • A formal document proving one's identity
   • Correct answer: A job or steady position of employment
   • A piece of furniture used for sleeping
   • A sum of money saved for the future

   The lodger means he has no steady job, using "berth" -- originally a nautical term for a sailor's post -- to describe his lack of employment.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What does "dénouement" mean as used in: "I had not in the least expected such a dénouement"?

    • Correct answer: The final resolution or outcome of a story or situation
    • A turning point of highest tension in the middle of a story
    • A public accusation or condemnation of someone's actions
    • An opening passage that introduces the characters and setting

    "Dénouement" refers to how a story or situation resolves -- here, the narrator did not expect Nastenka's tears to be the outcome of her tale.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What is an "embankment," as used in: "we came out here for a walk on this embankment"?

    • A covered marketplace where merchants sell goods
    • A narrow bridge built specifically for foot traffic
    • Correct answer: A raised structure of earth or stone built along a river or roadway
    • A small enclosed garden attached to a private house

    An embankment is a raised bank along a river, and it is where Nastenka and the lodger said their goodbyes -- the same spot where she is now telling her story.

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