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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is Nafisi worried about her students?

2. Why is it so difficult to find a copy of "Lolita" in Tehran?

3. What does Nafisi believe is the main point of "Lolita"?

4. How does Nafisi feel about revealing herself in class?

5. When the intruders enter Nafisi's house, what happens?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do the magician and Nafisi enjoy each other's company so much?

2. Why does Nafisi include Part 1, Chapter 12 in her memoir?

3. What factors cause Nafisi to resign from her position at the university?

4. In Part 1, Chapter 18, the room where the class meets becomes a character. How does Nafisi describe the room?

5. How is Professor X's method of teaching literature different than Nafisi's method of teaching literature?

6. Azin asks the group if a woman has the same right as a man to enjoy sex. Why does this question surprise the group?

7. Why is it difficult to find a copy of "Lolita" in Tehran?

8. In Chapter 2, why does Nafisi describe the first meeting of the study group in present tense instead of past tense?

9. Why does Nafisi ask her children about their memories of Iran?

10. How does the Iranian regime expect women to behave on the streets of Tehran?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"Reading Lolita in Tehran" centers around literature, a written form of art. Choose another art form (dance, music, visual art) and discuss the use of that art form in all four sections of the book. What is the role or roles of art in the Iranian Islamic Republic? What role or roles does art play in the fictional works Nafisi teaches? What role or roles does art play in the life of Nafisi? In the lives of her students?

Essay Topic 2

"Reading Lolita in Tehran" is divided into four parts, and each part centers around a novel. The book's title emphasizes only one novel, "Lolita." "Lolita" is the emphasis for the first section of the book. Why do you think that "Lolita" was mentioned in the book title instead of the other novels discussed? Was this a good choice? If not, which of the other novels would have been more suitable and why?

Essay Topic 3

Women are central characters in Nafisi's text and in the texts that Nafisi chooses to teach. Early in the book, Nafisi present three types of women in "A Thousand and One Nights." Of those types, which best represents the majority of the women in the Iranian Republic? Which type represents Nafisi's students? Which type represents Nafisi?

(see the answer keys)

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