Question

question 3 of 10
read this passage:
\i understand nothing,\ answered the nose. \i repeat, please
explain yourself more distinctly.\

\honourable sir,\ said kovaloff with dignity, \i do not know
how i am to understand your words. it seems to me the
matter is as clear as possible. or do you wish — but you
are after all my own nose!\

the nose looked at the major and wrinkled its forehead.
\there you are wrong, respected sir; i am myself. besides,
there can be no close relations between us. to judge by
the buttons of your uniform, you must be in quite a
different department to mine.\ so saying, the nose turned
away.

kovaloff was completely puzzled; he did not know what to
do.

—nikolai gogol, \the nose\
why is this passage from \the nose\ typical of magical realism?

a. kovaloff doesnt question why his nose is walking and talking.

b. the nose wonders how it came to be dressed as a man.

c. the nose is the only realistic element in a supernatural world.

d. kovaloff goes crazy trying to figure out how this happened.

Explanation:

Magical realism combines realistic elements with magical or supernatural ones. In this passage, the nose walking and talking is a supernatural element. In magical realism, characters often accept the supernatural without excessive questioning. Option A shows Kovaloff not questioning the nose's ability to walk and talk, which is in line with the genre's characteristic of blending the ordinary (Kovaloff's situation, his uniform, etc.) with the extraordinary (the sentient nose) without overly focusing on explaining the supernatural. Option B is incorrect as the nose is the supernatural element, not dressed as a man (the man is Kovaloff). Option C is wrong because the nose is the supernatural element, not the realistic one. Option D is incorrect as Kovaloff is puzzled but not going crazy in a way that contradicts the magical realism's typical character - acceptance of the supernatural.

Answer:

A. Kovaloff doesn't question why his nose is walking and talking.