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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. The narrator sees a postcard meant to evoke Rome with an image of whose hand?
(a) Adam.
(b) God.
(c) Emperor Constantine.
(d) Pope Francis.

2. The narrator refers to the inevitable entrapment of people who have not mastered the art of taking what action?
(a) Creating.
(b) Speaking.
(c) Writing.
(d) Breathing.

3. The narrator describes the nocturnal brain using an allusion to which mythological figure?
(a) Penelope.
(b) Pandora.
(c) Eros.
(d) Poseidon.

4. In Josefine Soliman's final letter to Francis I, she accuses him of what transgression?
(a) Welshing on a bet.
(b) Apologizing insincerely.
(c) Playing God.
(d) Lying.

5. The words "Mobility is Reality" (226) appear in the Moscow airport within an advertisement for what product?
(a) Cell phones.
(b) Taxis.
(c) Credit cards.
(d) Trains.

Short Answer Questions

1. Philip Verheyen was a real person from history who held what position?

2. The narrator explains that the airport in which city is shaped like a computer chip?

3. The narrator states that the view from any point between that of the frog and the bird "just leads to" (178) what?

4. The narrator gives a ride to a young man named Nebojsa who tells her what kinds of stories?

5. For what reason does the narrator lament the plights of people who speak a particular language?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what way does the theme of regret appear within the story of Van Horssen and his mentor Verheyen?

2. What significance does the unnamed narrator find in the shapes of airports?

3. Who is Annushka?

4. How does Tokarczuk present the theme of being present within the vignette entitled “Irkutsk-Moscow”?

5. What elements does the unnamed narrator consider when deciding whether a story or a lecture is more appropriate for the story she has to tell?

6. How is the theme of oppression featured within the vignettes about James Cook?

7. In what way does the theme of compassion arise within Annushka's story?

8. Discuss the unnamed narrator's feelings about languages and secrecy.

9. What two points of view does the narrator claim exist in the world and why?

10. Discuss how the motif of dreams appears within the unnamed narrator's vignettes.

(see the answer keys)

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