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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the narrator's destination during her first true experience with travel?
(a) A park.
(b) A library.
(c) A swimming pool.
(d) A river.

2. The narrator likes to read facts from the package of what product?
(a) Milk.
(b) Chewing gum.
(c) Cereal.
(d) Sanitary pads.

3. A character with what name believes that every human should write a book?
(a) Jasmine.
(b) Barbara.
(c) Marie.
(d) Sheila.

4. The first pilgrim featured in the narrative tells the narrator that the things he has seen are now what?
(a) Spoiled.
(b) His.
(c) Fixed in time.
(d) Invisible.

5. The after-dinner entertainment causes what reaction in the narrator and her companion?
(a) They scream.
(b) They laugh.
(c) They cry.
(d) They faint.

Short Answer Questions

1. What event causes Dr. Blau to leave before discovering the secret preservation techniques?

2. During one of the narrator's journeys, she watches what kind of after-dinner entertainment?

3. What are the categories of television identified by the narrator when she has insomnia?

4. The sanskrit Kali Yuga refers to which cycle of the world?

5. What emotion does Dr. Blau see when he looks into the man's eyes who also hopes to discover preservation secrets?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is ironic about Blau's "unproblematic" (133) romantic life prior to his marriage?

2. Discuss an instance of Tokarczuk employing satire in order to poke fun at a particular group.

3. What is the message contained within the vignette entitled "Travel Sizes"?

4. Discuss the qualities of Flights that could qualify it as a Postmodern work of literature.

5. How does the theme of isolation arise within the vignettes that focus on Eryk?

6. To what advice does the title "Guidance from Cioran" refer?

7. How is the theme of violence present within the story about the sultan?

8. The narrator's use of the word pilgrim throughout the novel is an allusion to what great work of literature?

9. According to the unnamed narrator, what is possibly "the greatest wonder of the world" (72) and why?

10. How does the unnamed narrator feel about islands and why?

(see the answer keys)

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