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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. How do the children on Tamina's team reward her?

2. What does Tamina try to recreate?

3. Who is Banaka?

4. What is more valuable to Kristyna than her relationship with the student?

5. How does Tamina spend her time?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Kristyna?

2. How is Tamina's situation where Raphael takes her similar to her husband's situation just before he dies?

3. What is ironic about the student deceiving Kristyna and attending the Writer's Club meeting?

4. Who does Kristyna meet and what attracts her to this person?

5. How is Kundera's father's attempt to understand Beethoven undertaken by Kundera?

6. Explain who Tamina is and the significance of how Kundera describes her.

7. What conditions have to exist for graphomania to blossom?

8. To what do Kristyna and the student agree and what is the outcome? What does the student's evaluation of Kristyna tell the reader?

9. What does Kundera do at the opening to Part VI: The Angels?

10. Briefly describe a few of the most salient points about Tamina.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Part 2, "Mama," the collective past of Karel and Marketa tires them, bringing them to their present and future actions. They wish to erase their past and forget their history to create a new future. Choose one of the following to discuss:

1. How is Karel and Marketa's situation of their past history a metaphor for the history of Czechoslovakia?

2. Do you think erasing the past is the best way to create a different future? Explain fully.

3. Is it even possible to erase the past completely either as an individual, couple or country? Explain fully.

Essay Topic 2

In Part 1, the concept of lost letters and their connection to a person's past is an important theme to the novel, as well as a strong foreshadowing of what is to transpire between Tamina and other characters in the novel. Choose one of the following to discuss:

1. Discuss the way the letters represent a power struggle between Mirek and Zdena and what one of them loses who lose the power struggle.

2. Discuss how the letters Mirek seeks from Zdena are unimportant compared to the letters the police find at his house. What are the implications about Mirek and the choices he makes concerning the letters? Is Mirek irresponsible?

3. Discuss how the trip for Mirek to recover his letters from Zdena is a reflection of the larger pursuit that the main character Tamina will undertake in future chapters.

Essay Topic 3

In Part 1, the narrator says that Mirek has always been ashamed of Zdena for the simple fact that she is ugly. Much of this book deals with sexual relationships. Discuss one of the following:

1. Do you think Mirek's attitude about a woman's attractiveness is fairly universal? Why or why not? Discuss his attitude and then expand on that.

2. What do you think is the basis of the relationship between Marketa and Karel? Do you think they have a fairly "typical" relationship?

3. Do men base relationships on different criteria than women? Use examples from the book and your personal knowledge.

(see the answer keys)

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