History of creation. What happens in the story is directly related to the events that took place in the family of Leo Tolstoy. IN student years The writer lived with his brother Sergei in Kazan. The brother was in love with Varvara, the daughter of a high-ranking military man, Koreysh.

He often visited the family of his chosen one. However, one day he saw how, under the leadership of this commander, the regiment mocked a soldier. And then Sergei became disillusioned with his love and left Varvara.

This story sank so deeply into the writer’s soul that he carried it throughout his entire life, until, in his old age, he made it the basis for his story. At first the story was called “Daughter and Father,” then “And You Say.” In the end, Tolstoy settled on the title by which the story is known today.

Plot. Compositionally, the story is divided into two parts. The first part depicts a truly idyllic picture. Main character in love with Varenka, the general’s daughter; the general arranges a magnificent ball, at which the hero is also present. He meets his beloved's father, whom he really liked.

The general is handsome, healthy and cheerful, despite his old age. And most importantly, he loves his daughter so much that for the sake of her well-being he saves on himself; for example, he orders shoes for himself from a simple army shoemaker, instead of purchasing new ones. The second part is in sharp contrast to the first.

The next morning, the hero sees how the general, this beautiful man in soul and body, carries out brutal reprisals against a Tatar soldier who tried to escape. When the soldier carrying out the execution did not hit the offender hard enough, the general began to beat him. This seemed so wild to the hero that his feelings for Varenka completely faded away. Apparently, the general only seemed kind and loving, but in a “working environment” he showed his true colors.

Issues. The story has several layers of meaning. And the hypocrisy and depravity of the general is only the very top layer, a kind of tip of the iceberg. First the ball - light and luxury, smiles and good mood, Beautiful music. And in the morning - a gray foggy sky, the beat of a drum and flute, a stern colonel. Two different scenes - a ball and a parade ground, where the image and characteristics of Varenka’s father are revealed. Was perfect loving father, but turned into a cruel officer.

The narrator is amazed by this behavior; it is as if he has seen the light, seeing the person’s behavior in different situations. He is even more disgusted that the colonel pretended not to recognize him. Having witnessed the disgusting scene, he is ashamed and sickened.

It is characteristic that the story depicts the time of the writer’s youth - the years of Nicholas I. Apparently, Leo Tolstoy, by creating his work, wanted to hint that many decades after the events described, nothing had changed in society. Did the hero give up love by breaking up with Varenka? Obviously not. On the contrary, he broke up with her for love, because he realized that there could no longer be any love in a relationship with her.

Genre of the work."After the Ball" is a small prose work, story. At first glance, he continues the traditions of Russian realism XIX century. However, the very deep symbolism of the story, coupled with some superficiality and “pamphletizing” of the external plan, makes it similar to literature new era. Description of long-term love story fits into just a few pages, and the sharp contrast between the first and second parts of the composition only enhances symbolic meaning narratives.

Meaning of the name. It is noteworthy that the story is called “After the Ball.” This already introduces some intrigue into the first half of the work, where the ball itself is described. The event itself, which the author focuses on, occurs in the final part of the story, but only it contains its main idea: everything that happened before the event that happened after the ball turned out to be just vanity.

Heroes. There are three main characters in the story. Firstly, the narrator himself is Ivan Vasilyevich. This is a young man, in love, not without compassion and decency. True love for him it is an all-encompassing feeling. Thus, Leo Tolstoy portrayed himself in the image of Ivan Vasilyevich.

Secondly, this is a general. Happy loving father, good family man. For a long time, the general arouses admiration; Ivan Vasilyevich downright idolizes him. However, in the end the true essence of this society becomes clear.

Varenka, the narrator's beloved. She personifies the Christian virtues - faith, hope and love. At some point, these Christian attitudes turn out to be devoid of real meaning, which is expressed in the fading of the narrator’s love for Varenka.

A distinctive feature of the life and work of the great Russian writer and thinker Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy is constant moral quest. What true purpose a person, how to relate to other people and generally accepted “truths” - all these issues are addressed to one degree or another in his works. The writer speaks about them especially sharply and uncompromisingly in the novels, novellas and short stories he created after the spiritual crisis experienced in the late 70s of the 19th century. The story “After the Ball” is one of these.

History of creation

At the beginning of April 1903 in the city of Chisinau, Bessarabia province Russian Empire There was a major pogrom against Jews. L.N. Tolstoy sharply condemned the pogromists and the inactive authorities. The Committee to Help Victims of the Pogrom organized a fundraiser. At the end of April, the famous Jewish writer Sholom Aleichem asked Leo Tolstoy to “give something” for a literary collection he was preparing for the same purpose. In his response letter, Lev Nikolaevich promised to fulfill his request.

On June 9, Tolstoy decided to write a story about an incident in the life of his brother Sergei Nikolaevich, which evokes certain associations with the Chisinau pogrom. 75-year-old Lev Nikolaevich remembered this story from his student days spent with his brothers in Kazan.

The plan for the future story was sketched out in a diary entry dated June 18, 1903. The first version of the story, entitled “Daughter and Father,” was written on August 5-6. Then Tolstoy changed the title to “And you say.” The final edition of the story, entitled “After the Ball,” was completed on August 20, 1903. The work was published after the writer’s death in “Posthumous Works of L. N. Tolstoy” in 1911.

Description of the work

The narration is told on behalf of the main character - Ivan Vasilyevich. In familiar surroundings, he told two incidents from his life when he was a student at a provincial university. They were supposed to illustrate his statement that what determines a person’s fate is not the environment, but chance.

Most of the story is occupied by the experiences of the hero, who attended the provincial leader’s ball on the last day of Maslenitsa. All the “cream” of provincial society gathered there, including Varenka B., with whom the student was madly in love. She became the queen of the ball, and was admired not only by men, but also by women whom she pushed into the background. So, at least, it seemed to the student Vanya. The beautiful girl favored him and gave him most of the dances with her.

Varenka was the daughter of Colonel Pyotr Vladislavovich, who was also at the ball with his wife. At the end, those present persuaded the colonel to dance with his daughter. The couple found themselves in the spotlight. Pyotr Vladislavovich remembered his former prowess and danced dashingly like a young man. Vanya watched the couple with increased attention. The old-fashioned colonel's boots especially touched his soul. They were seen to be saving on themselves so as not to deny their beloved daughter anything.

After the dance, the colonel said that he had to get up early tomorrow and did not stay for dinner. And Ivan danced with Varenka for a long time. An unearthly feeling of happiness and absolute harmony of existence gripped the main character. He loved not only Varenka, her father, but also the whole world, in which, as it seemed to him at those moments, there was nothing bad.

Finally, the ball was over. Returning home in the morning, Ivan realized that he would not be able to sleep from the excess of feelings. He went out into the street and his feet carried him to Varenka’s house, located on the outskirts of the city. As we approached the field adjacent to the house, the sound of drumroll and the unpleasant, shrill sounds of the flute, drowning out the dance melodies that were still sounding in Ivan’s soul. There they passed a fugitive Tatar soldier through the line. Other soldiers from both sides hit the unfortunate man on his bare back, and he only muttered exhaustedly: “Brothers, have mercy.” His back had long since turned into a bloody mess.

And Varenka’s father led the execution, and he did it as diligently as he had danced with his daughter the day before. When one short soldier did not hit the Tatar hard enough, the colonel, his face twisted with anger, began to hit him in the face for this. Ivan was shocked to the point of nausea by what he saw. His love for Varenka began to wane. The bloody back of the soldier tortured by her father stood between them.

Main characters

The hero of the story, Ivan Vasilyevich, is endowed with a sense of compassion and the ability to put himself in the place of another person. Human misfortunes did not become simple life decorations for him, as they were for the vast majority of representatives of the privileged classes. Ivan Vasilyevich’s conscience is not drowned out by false life expediency. These qualities are in highest degree were inherent in Tolstoy himself.

Colonel Pyotr Vladislavovich is a caring father and a good family man. Most likely, he considers himself a true Christian, serving God, the sovereign and the fatherland. But he, like most people at all times, is absolutely deaf to the main thing in Christianity - the great moral law Christ. According to this law, you must treat people the way you would like them to treat you. Regardless of class and property barriers.

Difficult to compose psychological picture beautiful Varenka. Most likely, it is unlikely that her external attractiveness was combined with the same soul. After all, she was raised by her father, who turned out to be a real fanatic in the public service.

Story Analysis

The compositional dominant of the story is the opposition of its two parts, which describe the events at the ball and after it. First, the ball sparkling with light colors is a celebration of youth, love and beauty. It takes place on the last day of Maslenitsa - Forgiveness Sunday, when believers must forgive each other mutual sins. Then - dark colors, “bad music” hitting the nerves, and cruel reprisals against the unfortunate soldiers, among whom the main victim is a non-religious (like the Chisinau Jews).

There are several main ideas in the story. First of all, it is an absolute rejection of any violence, including that justified by state necessity. Secondly, the division of people into those worthy of respect and those likened to cattle is contrary to the will of God.

Other motives are less obvious. In torturing a non-believer on Forgiveness Sunday, Tolstoy allegorically continues to reproach the official church for justifying state violence, from which he was excommunicated two years earlier.

The image of the loving and carefree Ivan Vasilyevich reminds Tolstoy of his own youth, which the writer was critical of. Oddly enough, but young Tolstoy had common features and with the colonel. In another of his works (“Youth”), the writer writes about his own division of people into worthy and despised.

Lebyazhenskaya secondary school

Literature lesson in 8th grade

The mastery of Leo Tolstoy in the story “After the Ball.” Composition. Image techniques internal state heroes.
Teacher Sycheva Tatyana Vladimirovna

Lesson objectives:

Teach children to determine the meaning of plot elements, composition, visual and expressive means of language, and characteristics of characters in different scenes.

Develop the reader's imagination and historical thinking.

To cultivate the ability to evaluate human actions and conflicts from a moral perspective.

Lesson equipment: computer, multimedia projector, cards for working in groups, individually oriented plans, calendar-thematic plan for covering the topic.

1. Psychological attitude(2 minutes)
1) I’m glad to see you all, I was preparing for our meeting, and I hope you were too. We welcome our guests, we will be grateful if they help us in our work.

2. Announcement of the topic

3. Look at the plan for passing this topic, determine where we are now. Let's define our tasks this lesson. (students answer)
2. Lecture with elements of conversation(10 min)

The work of L. Tolstoy is one of the brightest pages in the history of Russian literature. What is Tolstoy's genius? In the words of M. Gorky, we can say that Tolstoy told us almost as much about Russian life as the rest of our literature. Over 200 works were written by Tolstoy. Each of them is a reflection of an entire era of Russian reality.

As a child, Tolstoy was surrounded by a warm family atmosphere. Here they valued family feelings and willingly gave shelter to loved ones. The game of “ant brothers”, invented by little Levushka, forever remained a mystery that he wanted to solve in order to make all people happy.

Live in Yasnaya Polyana, work on self-education and self-improvement led him to the idea of ​​​​correcting the world around him through self-improvement. Therefore, Tolstoy reads a lot, keeps a diary, analyzing all his thoughts and actions, negative sides of their character, believing with utmost sincerity that the main incentive for changing life is introspection, the transformation by each of his own personality. Thus began the unprecedented spiritual work that Tolstoy engaged in throughout his life. It was in Yasnaya Polyana that he did a lot of teaching, taught peasant children to read and write, and wrote the “ABC,” which later taught several dozen generations of Russian children.

Tolstoy led active life. Even in his youth, he participated in the war in the Caucasus and in the defense of Sevastopol, and tried to carry out reforms on his estate that the authorities were just beginning to think about. He wrote a lot, read Russian and foreign literature, was interested in philosophy and history.

Having lived a long, fruitful life, Tolstoy put forward Christian love as the basis of human coexistence, which he understands as loving relationship one person to another, regardless of racial, national, religious differences. In order for such love to prevail on earth, it is necessary that people educate themselves in the spirit of such love. Tolstoy's heroes often reason and argue with their opponents on the topic of self-education and changing life for the better.

About the story “After the Ball”

In the story “After the Ball” you can hear the roll call of two eras - the one that is directly depicted by L. Tolstoy (the 40s of the 19th century, the time of Nicholas 1), and the one that is present invisibly, causing the posing of questions (the 90s). The writer in the story restores the past to show that its horrors live in the present, only slightly changing forms. Studying this story, we must give a correct assessment of the characters and events depicted by the great thinker.

Slide 5

What impression did this story make on you?

Slide 6

(it starts suddenly, the conversation is about moral values human existence: “...that for personal improvement it is necessary to first change the conditions among which people live...”, “what is good and bad...” and ends suddenly without conclusions.

Slide 7

(antithesis, story within a story)

Slide 8

(the time of Nicholas 1, who was called Nikolai Palkin).

Let us recall another work about this time:

In Leskov’s story “The Man on the Clock,” the fate of a sentry who left his post to save a drowning man is tragic. He was severely punished for this and perceives this punishment as a natural consequence of his act. We see that the laws invented by people diverge from the higher laws: providing assistance to a dying person is the highest necessity, and the superiors of the offending soldier do not see it.)

What events are described in the story?

(a ball at the governor’s leader, the hero’s falling in love, disappointment, shock from the cruelty of what happened after the ball)

How can we explain that in the ball scene the hero perceives everything around him with enthusiastic tenderness?

(he is in love, he is fascinated by the festive atmosphere of a dinner party, the closeness of his beloved girl, the feeling of happiness, youth and beauty)

(although the ball scene is described in more detail and takes large quantity pages, after the ball an event occurs that changes the hero’s life)

Slide 13

2 groups of 5 people work on a lesson card - conduct observations on the text and write down key words from the episode.

The first group is the episode “At the Ball”, the second – “After the Ball”
4. Consolidation of new material (5 min)
1) Speeches from groups - according to sections of the table (for comparison, listen to extracts from each group)
2) Formulation of the conclusion: the episode of the ball and the events after the ball are opposed to each other. A contrasting image of characters, circumstances, and events is an important technique for achieving the idea of ​​a story. The episodes are organically connected with each other. The contrast helped show the turning point in the hero’s soul.
5. Individual work according to individually oriented plans. (10 min)
6. Summing up. (1 min)

Ask me any questions you have while working with the IEP.

What is the most difficult thing about working on this topic?
7. Homework: (2)

Level 1: Prepare one of the scenes of the story for a detailed retelling

Level 2: Make a story plan (complex)

Level 3: Prepare an oral description of one of the characters with the introduction of a portrait, dialogue, descriptions

1. For what purpose does L.N. Tolstoy turn to the past?

Unlike Lermontov ("Song about Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich..."), Gogol ("Taras Bulba"), who turned to the past in search of heroic characters, Tolstoy in the story "After the Ball" restores the past to show that its horrors live on in the present, only slightly modified that the past with its social inequality, cruelty, injustice is invisibly present in today’s day (the time of writing the story), that renewal of life is necessary. The story echoes two eras - the one depicted by Tolstoy (40s of the 19th century, the era of Nicholas I), and the one that is present invisibly, in the formulation of social, philosophical problems, and moral issues (900s).

2. What is the main theme of the story?

This is the theme of the moral responsibility of each member of society for the lives of everyone. It is revealed through the image of the narrator, Ivan Vasilyevich, whose life, as he believes, was changed by one single incident.

3. How is the work constructed?

The composition is based on the technique of antithesis (the ball and after the ball), the story is told in the first person, there are two narrators in the work: a young man who introduces the reader to Ivan Vasilyevich, and Ivan Vasilyevich himself, the narrator and at the same time one of the main characters of the work. What we have before us is, in essence, a “story within a story.” This ring composition allows us to bring together, and therefore compare, two eras.

4. On whose behalf is the story told about what happened at the ball and after the ball? Can we consider that there are two narrators in the story “After the Ball”? How can you name each of them, bearing in mind that Ivan Vasilyevich is also the hero of the work?

Let's go back to the beginning of the story.

“You say that a person cannot understand on his own what is good and what is bad...

This is how everyone respected Ivan Vasilyevich spoke after a conversation between us...”

We understand that there are two narrators in the work. One tells the story from the author. Another one is designated by this author both as a participant in the events and as a narrator - this is Ivan Vasilyevich.

5. Read the beginning of the story in roles from the perspective of each of the narrators.

Performed on behalf of the author presupposes a calm and devoid of emotional overtones. Having decided to read on behalf of Ivan Vasilyevich, it is necessary to convey the emotional attitude of this person to the story about his tragic fate. This is all the more important because the author states: “being carried away by the story... he told it very sincerely and truthfully.”

6. Re-read the final part of the story, which returns the reader to the conversation about the environment, about “what is good and what is bad.” Why did the author return to this conversation again at the end of the story? How is the conversation-conversation that frames the work combined with the theme and content of Ivan Vasilyevich’s story about the events at the ball and after the ball? Why can “After the Ball” be called a story within a story? How are the past and present related in the work?

“After the Ball” is a work that can be called a story within a story, since Ivan Vasilyevich’s narrative about the events at the ball and after the ball arose during a conversation between old friends. They are trying to decide “what is good and what is bad.” Ivan Vasilyevich offers episodes from his life that can help resolve this issue. The conversation between friends - the frame of the story - is the beginning and ending of this work. The frame of the story is also an important part in order to understand how concerned the participants in the conversation are with moral problems.

7. What feelings overcome young Ivan Vasilyevich at the ball? What does the hero of the story experience after parting with Varenka? What did he “see” and “hear” under the impression of a merry ball? How do the feelings experienced by the hero-narrator upon returning home manifest themselves in relation to his brother and footman Petrusha? How does the hero perceive the morning city landscape? Write down the words and expressions that most succinctly convey the state of Ivan Vasilyevich.

An enthusiastic feeling overwhelmed Ivan Vasilyevich at the ball: “I was not only cheerful and satisfied, I was happy, blissful, I was kind, I was not me, but some unearthly creature who knows no evil and is capable of only good.” . These feelings only intensified after his separation from his beloved girl. Both his brother and the footman Petrusha seemed to him “touchingly touching.” An equally tender feeling possessed him when looking at what surrounded him on the street: “everything was especially sweet and significant to me.”

8. What feelings took possession of Ivan Vasilyevich after he saw the cruel punishment of Tatarin? Why are the words “began to discern”, “began to look”, “seen”, “heard”, “seen”, “caught a glimpse”, “heard”, “not knowing where to look”, “seen” so often repeated in his story about punishment? were the words heard? How do they help gradually reveal the growth of the feeling that the hero of the story experienced on the terrible morning of the execution? Write down the words that convey Ivan Vasilyevich’s state as a witness to the punishment.

“I was so ashamed...” says Ivan Vasilyevich. He goes home, and “there was an almost physical melancholy in his heart, almost to the point of nausea.” Repeated words that speak of the close attention of an involuntary witness to what is happening force the reader to delve into the essence of what is happening and understand the hero’s experiences.

9. Tell us about the hero’s experiences and thoughts at the ball and after the ball.

In order to talk about the hero’s experiences and thoughts, you can retell the entire story. But we can characterize them briefly - the path from delight and happiness to shock and horror occupies the entire narrative. Another option is also possible: a description of our reader’s observations about how, from the charm that gripped the hero at the ball, from the feeling of complete happiness, a person suddenly moves to the tragic shock that arises from the scene of the legalized murder of a guilty soldier. It is also worth remembering that these sharply different pictures unfold against the background of music, which very accurately accompanies the events described on the pages of the story.

10. What colors predominate in the description of the ball and in the description of the Tatar’s punishment for escaping?

The story breaks up into two contrasting pictures and each of them differs sharply in its tonality, which is noticeable in both the musical and pictorial solutions of these pictures. Even if we look very carefully at the first joyful part of the story, we will see only white, pink and silver colors - a light, festive palette. The harsh, bad music of the second picture is accompanied by black color and “something motley, wet, red, unnatural” into which the back of the beaten man has turned. So, white and pink, black and red. The details that accompany this image only enhance the emotional impact of the paintings.

11. How is the colonel drawn at the ball and after the ball? Can the words spoken by the colonel at the ball - “everything must be done according to the law” - be correlated with his behavior during the execution?

The image of the colonel at the ball and after the ball is the image of the same person, who always follows the law in everything. There is no insidious desire in him to pretend to be something, to deviate from his habits. And the stronger the shock of the hero - he sees that there is no falsehood in a person, that he is always the same, and the more obvious is the organic nature of his behavior on the parade ground during the punishment of the soldier. The Colonel is an integral nature, but this integrity includes as its organic and essential part the ability to carry out cruel reprisals, cruelty by order of the charter. If this is so, then it is impossible to change or correct anything in his fate and in his personality.

12. At the very beginning of the story, Ivan Vasilyevich’s interlocutors talk about the importance of understanding “what is good and what is bad.” What answer does the writer give to these questions in the story “After the Ball”? What kind of illustrations would you draw for the work of L.N. Tolstoy? How would you respond with your illustrations to the “what is good” and “what is bad” in the picture of life captured in the story?

In the story “After the Ball,” the author gives clear answers to the questions: “what is good” and “what is bad.” One of these answers is the ball scene. The second is the scene after the ball. And the illustrations that could be created could contain either two contrasting paintings or two series of such paintings. Both the ball and the execution consisted of many moments, each of which can be captured in an illustration. The first episode would show how beautiful, touching, humane the relationship between father and daughter is at the ball. Their beauty, grace, demeanor, plasticity of dance, purely human communication evoke a grateful response from everyone who sees them. And just as emotionally expressive are the brutal scenes of execution, which demonstrate the darkest sides of human character. Here there is cruelty, cowardice, senseless ruthlessness, and a calm attitude towards the humiliation of others.

13. How does Ivan Vasilyevich appear in the characteristics of his interlocutors? What role did “chance” play in Ivan Vasilyevich’s life? How does the hero characterize his decision not to serve in military service and not serve anywhere?

We see Ivan Vasilyevich as a person who is not alien to the joy of contact with beauty, the ability to respond to both good and bad, and sensitivity to what is happening nearby. In the author's description, he is presented as a kind, decent person. The interlocutors to whom he told his story evaluate him in the same way. An incident intervened in the usual course of his fate, which showed how Ivan Vasilyevich differs from any other person. In order to renounce the fate familiar to those around him, one must have a strong and decisive character and strength of conviction.

14. Working on the story “After the Ball,” L. N. Tolstoy expanded the episode of execution and persistently emphasized the contrast in the appearance of the colonel at the ball and after the ball. What was the writer trying to say with this?

Although Tolstoy expanded the description of the execution and at the same time emphasized the contrast in the appearance of the colonel at the ball and after the ball, the events that took place at the ball are depicted in more detail and more fully.

The contrast between these two parts of the story is obvious and the power of the description of the execution still suppresses the bright and joyful colors of the ball.

15. It is known that in the first edition of the story, Ivan Vasilyevich regrets that he did not marry Varenka. Why did L.N. Tolstoy exclude this motif from the final edition of the story?

If such a regret had remained in the text of the story, then the character of Ivan Vasilyevich would have changed greatly. In this case, he would have come to terms with the contrast in the colonel's behavior. From a person with a sensitive conscience and the ability to make extraordinary decisions, he would turn into one who humbly follows the usual standards.

16. What do you see as the critical power of storytelling?

The critical power of the story lies in its decisive depiction of the darker aspects of life, in its obvious affirmation of human dignity. Expanding the tragic part of the story, the author did not reduce the size of the description of the hero’s happiness at the ball. The proportions of good and evil in the story are not violated.

17. In the original editions, the story had the following titles: “Daughter and Father”, “And you say.” Why do you think the writer preferred the title “After the Ball”?
18. In his memoirs about L.N. Tolstoy, the famous lawyer and writer A.F. Koni, touching on the story “After the Ball,” could not ignore the contrast inherent in the work. He noted: “This fatal dissonance is more powerful than any long and complex drama.” In its literal meaning, the word “dissonance” means an inharmonious combination of sounds, and in a figurative sense it means discord, inconsistency, contradiction, a sharp discrepancy with something. In what meaning, in your opinion, did the memoirist use the word “dissonance”? Can the words “contrast” and “dissonance” be called synonyms in this case? Why is “dissonance” called “rocky” by the author of the memoirs?

In the evaluation of the story, the word dissonance is used as a synonym for contrast. Inconsistencies also arise in the emotional structure, in color, and in sound. The main reason why dissonance is called fatal is that its impact on the fate of the hero is great, that it is terrible as a social phenomenon.

19. The contrasting comparison of the two parts of the story was clearly reflected in the language work of art. Select antonyms from each part of the story that convey the sounds and colors of the ball and execution. Include them in your oral history.

The ball was wonderful, the hall was beautiful, the musicians were famous (serfs!), the buffet was magnificent and there was a sea of ​​champagne...

Something big, black...

Contrasting comparisons are also contained directly in the text: “I was singing all the time in my soul and occasionally heard the mazurka motif. But it was some other, cruel, bad music.”

It is hardly worth comparing the crouched, lost human form the body of the punished with slender and dexterous dancers at the ball. Therefore, we will include them in the oral story with caution.

20. Characterizing the appearance of the colonel, Tolstoy emphasizes that “his face was very ruddy, with a white curled mustache a la Nicolas I, white sideburns brought to the mustache and with combed forward temples.” Comparing the appearance of the colonel, “a servant of Nicholas’s bearing,” with Nicholas I is an important artistic detail of the story. Think about why the writer resorts to comparing the appearance of the colonel with the appearance of the king. How does this comparison develop in the plot of the story “After the Ball”?

Drawing a portrait of “servants of Nicholas’ bearing,” the author seems to indicate the starting point in revealing his character and life position. For the author, who wrote the story under the impression of his youth, the appearance of the servant of Nicholas’s time was alive, which he embodied both in the portrait of the hero of the story, and in its comparison with the appearance of the autocrat. Thus, the author managed to vividly reproduce the Nicholas era.

The portrait of Varenka’s father speaks about this: “Varenka’s father was a very handsome, stately, tall and fresh old man. His face was very ruddy, with a white curled mustache a la Nicolas I, white sideburns drawn up to the mustache and combed forward temples... He was a military commander, like an old campaigner of the Nicholas style.” The appearance and behavior of the colonel quite fully and uncompromisingly reveals the typical appearance of a martinet of Nikolaev bearing, who behaves and thinks as prescribed. Material from the site

21. The hero of the work and narrator Ivan Vasilyevich calls an “incident” from his life “a long story.” But is this really a “long story”? After all, he immediately says that his “life changed from one night, or rather morning.” Read the story and watch how the writer, through the mouth of Ivan Vasilyevich, records the time of the night ball and the day that followed it. What events are these indications of the duration of action associated with? What is the time distance between the beginning of the story about the “wonderful” ball and the events that close the story of Ivan Vasilyevich?

We remember that the hero left the ball “at five o’clock, by the time he got home, sat at home, another two hours passed, so when I left, it was already light.” So the morning of the next day was marked for Ivan Vasilyevich with a tragic discovery: from the poetic world he unexpectedly moved into the tragic world of cruelty and lawlessness. And this journey took only a few hours.

22. Drawing the appearance of the hostess of the ball, the writer emphasizes that she was “in a velvet puce dress, with a diamond feronniere on her head and with open old, plump, white shoulders and breasts, like portraits of Elizabeth Petrovna.” Why does Tolstoy, in the story “After the Ball,” recreate the portrait of the ball hostess three times, each time comparing it with the portrait of Elizaveta Petrovna? To what extent does the mention of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna expand the time boundaries of Tolstoy’s work?

The author, hinting several times at the similarity of the hostess of the ball with the portrait of Elizaveta Petrovna, seems to be expanding the time frame. He includes in the system of relationships that excite and outrage him not only several episodes of recent times, but also an era that can be measured in more than a single decade.

23. With what feeling, remembering the distant past, does Ivan Vasilyevich describe the ball? Imagine that you have to depict a ball on artistic canvas. What colors would prevail? Why?
24. How does the colonel appear in the ball scene? What about his appearance and behavior touches and delights the narrator?
25. Does the mood with which Ivan Vasilyevich returns home affect how he perceives the scene of the soldier being punished for escaping?
26. How do we see the colonel in this scene? How are his appearance and behavior described here? Let's “write” another picture. What paints will be needed? Why?
27. So what is the colonel really like? Was he being a hypocrite at the ball? Did you pretend to care? kind father, well-mannered, friendly person?
28. Can Ivan Vasilyevich answer these questions? What feelings does he have? Did he understand the reasons for the contradictions in the colonel's behavior?
29. How did what he saw after the ball change the life of this honest, thinking man? Why didn't he become a military man, as he had previously planned? What conclusions did you come to? What did you devote your life to?
30. Point to specific examples artistic skill Tolstoy.
31. What impression did this story make on you? What got you excited? What did it make you think about?

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On this page there is material on the following topics:

• GDZ Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy after the ball characterization of the heroes
• basic artistic device in Leo Tolstoy's story after the ball, justify your answer
• what is the argument about when the hero decides to tell his story after the ball
• why is the story named by the author not the ball after the ball
• story home answers to questions

Teacher of Russian language and literature – Pankova Z.V.

MBOU "Poselskaya Secondary School"

Bichursky district, Republic of Buryatia

Test: L.N. Tolstoy “After the Ball” - 8th grade

1. Mark the correct statement.

A. The plot is a story about the life of the hero

B. The plot is the actions and events in the lives of the characters

B. Plot is the actions and events in the lives of characters that take place in space and time

2. Mark the location of the story.

A. Petersburg

B. Moscow

V. Provincial city

G. County town

3. Note on whose behalf the story is being told.

B. Colonel

V. Ivan Vasilievich

G. Engineer Anisimov

4. Note what feelings the hero of the story experiences at the ball.

A. Love for Varenka

B. Love for Varenka and her father

V. Love for the whole world, because he loves Varenka

5. Note how the hero’s love story ended.

A. Safely

B. Love has waned

V. The hero abruptly broke off relations with his beloved

6. Mark the topic of conversation among the assembled listeners.

A. A person cannot understand for himself that it’s all about the environment

B. For personal improvement, it is necessary first of all to change the conditions in which people live

Q. There are events that dramatically change a person’s whole life

7. Note what type of composition the story is.

A. A story within a story

B. First person narration

8. Mark the correct ratio of episodes by volume.

A. The description of the ball and the description of the execution occupy the same place

B. The description of the ball takes up more pages than the description of the execution.

9. Note why the author needs the image of a narrator.

A. To give credibility to the story

B. Because a first-person story makes it possible to convey the feelings and thoughts of the characters

B. Both options are correct.

10. Note whether the narrator draws conclusions about what he saw on the parade ground.

A. No, he doesn’t want to reason.

B. Yes, he is indignant, opposes arbitrariness

V. No, he does not draw conclusions, but his whole future life depends on what you see

11. Mark the most precise definition the concept of "antithesis".

A. Antithesis is a comparison of different concepts

B. Contrasting concepts

B. Stylistic figure of contrast, sharp contrast

12. Mark the correct statement.

A. In the story, L.N. Tolstoy protests against the reality of Nikolaev

B. In the story by L.N. Tolstoy declares a person’s moral responsibility for what is happening

V. In the story, L.N. Tolstoy calls for a fight against tyranny

13. Mark the time of action in the story.

A. Reign of Alexander I

B. Reign of Nicholas I

B. Reign of Alexander II

A. From the lips of those present at the ball

15. Note what feelings the hero of the story experiences after the scene on the parade ground.

A. Indignation

B. Powerlessness

V. Tosku

16. Note the state of the hero of the story after the events on the parade ground.

A. The colonel’s behavior is incompatible with the hero’s feeling of love

B. What happened convinced the hero of the impossibility of love

B. The hero does not understand what happened, but he cannot love the heroine after what he saw

17. Mark the correct option.

A. Key episode in the story there is a ball scene

B. The key episode in the story is the description of the execution

18. Note how the author’s image appears in the story.

Answers:

1 – B

2 – B

3 – B

4 – B

5 B

6 – B

7 – A

8 – B

9 - B

10 - B

11 – B

12 – B

13 – B

14 – B

15 – V

16 – V

17 – B

18 - B