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Quiz about Introduction to Russian Literature

Introduction to Russian Literature Quiz

This is a simple quiz about Russian literature in the 19th and 20th centuries. It requires a general, but not in-depth, knowledge of the canon and its historical context.

A multiple-choice quiz by melor. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
melor

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
206,025

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
866

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Name the highly revered 19th century writer who is praised in the phrase, "________ is our everything." Hint

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Nikolai Gogol

Alexander Pushkin

Leo Tolstoy

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Question 2 of 10

2. Which of the following is not considered one of Nikolai Gogol's Petersburg Tales? Hint

The Nose

Viy

The Overcoat

Nevsky Prospect

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Question 3 of 10

3. In Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment," how does the character Raskolnikov murder the old pawnbroker? Hint

He strangles her

With a revolver

With an ax

He actually kills her sister Lizaveta, not the pawnbroker

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Question 4 of 10

4. Which of Leo Tolstoy's novels begins with the line, "Happy families are all alike. Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way"? Hint

War and Peace

Father Sergius

Brother Karamazov

Anna Karenina

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Question 5 of 10

5. Name the playwright who penned "Uncle Vanya" and has a surname similar to a character from a 1960s sci-fi television series. Hint

Maxim Gorky

Vladimir Mayakovsky

Alexander Blok

Anton Chekhov

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Question 6 of 10

6. Which of the following biblical characters does not appear in "Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov? Hint

Judas

Jesus

Peter

Pilate

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Question 7 of 10

7. What 1958 literary award did Boris Pasternak originally accept, but later decline under pressure from the Soviet government? Hint

Pulitzer Prize

Russian Booker Prize

Hugo Award

Nobel Prize

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Question 8 of 10

8. Which Soviet leader gave permission for Solzhenitsyn's "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" to be published in order to aid in his own denunciation of Stalin? Hint

Vladimir Lenin

Yuri Andropov

Leonid Brezhnev

Nikita Khrushchev

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Question 9 of 10

9. Name the Russian-born author of "The Gift" and "Pale Fire," who spent much of his life writing in America and Switzerland. Hint

Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Ivan Bunin

Vladimir Nabokov

Joseph Brodsky

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Question 10 of 10

10. How many Russian/Soviet writers were awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature during the 20th century? Hint

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Most Recent Scores

Nov 02 2024 : EKlebanov: 10/10
Sep 18 2024 : AndyComics: 8/10

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Name the highly revered 19th century writer who is praised in the phrase, "________ is our everything."

Answer: Alexander Pushkin

In Russia, Pushkin holds a status that is unparalleled by any writer in American culture. Among his numerous works are: "Eugene Onegin," a novel in verse; "The Queen of Spades," on which Tchaikovsky based an opera; and the epic poem, "The Bronze Horseman."

2. Which of the following is not considered one of Nikolai Gogol's Petersburg Tales?

Answer: Viy

The Petersburg Tales also include "The Portrait" and "Diary of a Madman."

3. In Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment," how does the character Raskolnikov murder the old pawnbroker?

Answer: With an ax

Raskolnikov murders both the old pawnbroker and her sister, Lizaveta, with an ax.

4. Which of Leo Tolstoy's novels begins with the line, "Happy families are all alike. Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way"?

Answer: Anna Karenina

"The Brothers Karamazov" is a work by Dostoyevsky. The others were written by Tolstoy, but the opening line comes from "Anna Karenina," the epigraph of which is "Vengeance is mine, I will repay."

5. Name the playwright who penned "Uncle Vanya" and has a surname similar to a character from a 1960s sci-fi television series.

Answer: Anton Chekhov

Ensign Pavel Chekov is a Russian crewmember on the starship Enterprise in "Star Trek". Incidentally, Anton Chekhov's patronymic was Pavlovich (meaning his father's name was Pavel).

6. Which of the following biblical characters does not appear in "Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov?

Answer: Peter

The novel alternates between contemporary (early Soviet period) Moscow and Jerusalem in the time of Christ. Bulgakov gives his interpretation of the arrest of Jesus, his trial before Pilate, and the death of Judas, but does not mention the apostle Peter.

7. What 1958 literary award did Boris Pasternak originally accept, but later decline under pressure from the Soviet government?

Answer: Nobel Prize

The Pulitzer is awarded to U.S. citizens, the Hugo is an award for science fiction writing, and the Russian Booker was not established until 1991.

8. Which Soviet leader gave permission for Solzhenitsyn's "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" to be published in order to aid in his own denunciation of Stalin?

Answer: Nikita Khrushchev

"One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" details the inhumane conditions of the Soviet prison camp system during Stalin's reign.

9. Name the Russian-born author of "The Gift" and "Pale Fire," who spent much of his life writing in America and Switzerland.

Answer: Vladimir Nabokov

Nabokov was teaching at Cornell when he wrote his most well-known novel, "Lolita," in 1955.

10. How many Russian/Soviet writers were awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature during the 20th century?

Answer: 5

In the 20th century, there were five Russian Nobel laureates: Ivan Bunin (1933), Boris Pasternak (1958-declined), Mikhail Sholokhov (1965), Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1970), and Joseph Brodsky (1987).

Source: Author melor

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