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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. Where does Voltaire invite the student?

2. What is the island like where Tamina and the boy are at?

3. Why don't the student and Kristyna consummate their relationship?

4. What does Kristyna ask the student to get her?

5. What is the man's name who drives off with Tamina in a red sports car?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. What does Tamina ask Bibi to get for her in Prague and why does Tamina make the request?

6. What happens to permanently silence Tamina?

7. What is the relationship of litost to romantic love in general and specifically in relation to Kristyna and the student?

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

9. Where does Tamina go with Raphael?

10. What does Tamina do shortly after her husband dies and what might this foreshadow?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Part 4, the main character (as deemed by Kundera later in the novel) is introduced. She is one of the two or three fictionalized characters that Kundera assumes are born every second on earth. Discuss the following:

1. What do you think Kundera means by the statement above?

2. Do you think Kundera is advocating for or against writers and the characters they create? Explain fully.

3. If Tamina is a fictionalized character, do you think she is a symbol of some concept in Kundera's experiences? What do you think she represents? Explain fully.

4. Kundera thinks of Tamina as the main character. Why do you think he sees her as the main character? Of what--the book? A couple parts of the book?

Essay Topic 2

Kundera's book is not so much a book of actions, but one of thought. Discuss one of the following:

1. Discuss the theme of forgetting as it occurs in two of the parts other than Part 1 and 4. Use specific examples to support a thesis.

2. Compare and contrast the idea of forgetting in Part 1 compared to Part 4.

3. Argue one side or the other of this statement: Kundera believes forgetting can be a valuable tool for healing.

Essay Topic 3

In Part 5, Litost, Kundera introduces us to the concept of litost, which is a Czech word that means a state of torment created by the sudden sight of one's own misery.

1. Explain more fully the concept of litost and give five examples of litost from throughout the book.

2. Though litost is a Czech word, do you think people in other countries experience litost?

3. Do you think litost is necessary to be a great poet and/or philosopher? Why or why not?

4. What do you think litost is called in the English language?

(see the answer keys)

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