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Take-home Quiz 7, part A: Due at the beginning of class on April 1, in hard copy, typed: THIS QUIZ IS ON CHAPTER 1 ONLY. In chapter 1 of the novel, Ivan, a poet, and his editor Berlioz meet a stranger in a Moscow park. Since neither of them has read Faust they have trouble identifying who the stranger is despite numerous hints given in his appearance and conversation. On the basis of your familiarity with the Faust tradition, you should have no trouble recognizing the true identity of Professor Woland (even his name is a clue). Make a list of ALL the hints in Woland’s appearance, behavior and conversation mentioned in chapter 1 that positively identify him as the Devil, including the source of his name.
Take-home Quiz 7, part B: Due at the beginning of class on April 8, in hard copy, typed. This take-home quiz is on chapter 2 ONLY: 1) In chapter 2 of the novel, Woland narrates the first chapter of the Master’s novel, Pontius Pilate. He claims (at the beginning of chapter 3) that everything in his story is true because “’I myself witnessed the whole thing. I was there on Pontius Pilate’s balcony, and in the garden when he was talking to Kaifa, and on the platform too, but I was there in secret, incognito, so to speak. ‘” (p. 34) Reread chapter 2 of the novel and try to locate specifically where or in what form the Devil was, incognito, in each of these places: (a) on the balcony, (b) in the garden, and (c) on the platform. Write a sentence justifying each of your educated guesses.
Take home quiz 8 due at the beginning of class on April 10, hard copy only, typed. This take-home quiz is on Chapter 13 ONLY but invites comparison with the Fausts of Goethe, & Gounod. The Master is an inmate of an insane asylum when we first meet him. He is incurably insane. In chapter 13 (NB the unlucky number!) he narrates the tragedy of his former life, his “lost” love, and most of all, the fate of his book. Read this chapter carefully and make a detailed list of ALL the aspects of the Master’s story as he tells it that recall and/or allude to the story of Faust in Goethe and Gounod.
ASSIGNMENT 9 DUE at the beginning of class on APRIL 17, hard copy only, typed. Working within the Faust tradition (Goethe AND Gounod) as you have studied it in this course, point out (a) at least 3 ways Bulgakov’s Margarita differs from Goethe’s/Gounod’s Margareta and (b) at least 3 ways she resembles them. (c) Finally, in what 3 ways does Margarita resemble Goethe’s Faust?
Assignment 10 due at the beginning of class on 4/24, hard copy only, typed. Write specific answers to the following questions about Woland and his legacy in Moscow:
1) What evil has Woland and his gang done, justified or unjustified? (Give a body count –fatalities and victims – if you wish)
2) Has he done any good (other than conducting the Master and Margarita to eternal peace)?
3) Do you feel sympathy for Woland, why/why not?
4) Which of the several embodiments of the Devil you have met in this course would you like to hang out with and why?
