View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why was Maman initially pleased to think about meeting Jaromil's girlfriend?
(a) She wanted to make peace with Jaromil by meeting his girlfriend.
(b) She wanted to befriend the redhead so she could control Jaromil more.
(c) She thought perhaps she could make a friend.
(d) She had told the downstairs tenant that her family would need the entire upper floor.

2. What question does the middle-aged woman have for the group of poets?
(a) How will socialism affect their personal lives?
(b) Why was the bus stop moved down the road?
(c) How is modern love different from love in the past?
(d) How will socialism affect poetic forms?

3. What happens to Jaromil's uncle?
(a) He contracts pneumonia and dies.
(b) He leaves his wife to hide in a remote village.
(c) He is charged with fraud and imprisoned.
(d) He is charged with being an enemy of the state and imprisoned.

4. Why does the lyrical poet make his poetry striking?
(a) His life is uneventful.
(b) He speaks out of powerful places in History.
(c) His subject matter demands a strong voice.
(d) Only striking poetry will be accepted by the readers.

5. While watching the beautiful cinematographer on the bus, what does Jaromil realize?
(a) That he has fallen in love with her.
(b) How ugly the redhead is.
(c) How little his poetry is worth compared to the cinematographer.
(d) That he will never love anyone but Maman.

6. What contest does the party guest suggest to Jaromil?
(a) A contest between an artist and a poet.
(b) A contest between a poet and a corpse.
(c) A contest between a mouse and a cat.
(d) A contest between a poet and a policeman.

7. According to Jaromil, how do socialism and love interact?
(a) Socialism stifles love.
(b) Socialism allows for true love to exist.
(c) They are complete opposites.
(d) Socialism comes from the root of love.

8. According to Kundera, who ruled the epoch about which he is writing?
(a) The farmer and the factory worker.
(b) The hangman and the poet.
(c) The judge and the lawyer.
(d) The young people.

9. What does Lermontov assert is the highest quality in life?
(a) Purity.
(b) Love.
(c) Loyalty.
(d) Honor.

10. In the poem "Epitaph," how does Jaromil wish to die?
(a) By fire.
(b) In the service of Marxism.
(c) By heartbreak to prove his love.
(d) By drowning.

11. What happens when a classmate asks Jaromil about the redhead?
(a) He refuses to answer the question, out of embarrassment.
(b) He replies that she is his cousin.
(c) He replies that she is a casual acquaintance.
(d) He replies that she is the love of his life.

12. Why is there silence at the beginning of the question-and-answer time following the recitation?
(a) The poets are professional and know what the questions will be.
(b) No one cares about the poems enough to ask questions.
(c) No one knows how to begin.
(d) Everyone is respectfully waiting for the silver-haired poet to speak first.

13. While Jaromil is talking with the redhead about love, how does death enter the conversation?
(a) When she threatens to kill herself if he ever leaves her.
(b) When they promise to be die together in suicide.
(c) When she swore she could not live without him.
(d) When he threatens to kill her if she ever leaves him.

14. According to one of the party guests, why has Jaromil stopped talking to the artist?
(a) The friendship would have stood in the way of his career.
(b) Jaromil's art deserved better instruction than this man could give.
(c) Jaromil saw that the man was a capitalist discontent.
(d) The artist was involved in spy campaigns.

15. What is the last thing Jaromil ever sees?
(a) His father's portrait.
(b) His hand lying on the quilt.
(c) Love in his mother's face.
(d) Great fear in his mother's face.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Maman is embarrassed about her dress in front of Jaromil, what does she change into?

2. What does the redhead claim that she did when she had a doctor's appointment?

3. How does the film begin?

4. What one item fills the man's apartment with nostalgia and melancholy?

5. The last time the man and girl had seen each other, what had they talked about?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 788 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample