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

2. The narrator uses what location to demonstrate the vast feelings of being present experienced by the passengers flying from Irkutsk to Moscow?
(a) Timbuktu.
(b) Cucamonga.
(c) Alaska.
(d) Siberia.

3. In the vignette entitled "Purity of Blood," the narrator is staying at a hotel in what city?
(a) Frankfurt.
(b) Paris.
(c) London.
(d) Prague.

4. The narrator declares that reception areas are better than cafes for what reason?
(a) Because they require no purchase.
(b) Because they are quieter.
(c) Because they are carpeted.
(d) Because they contain more human drama.

5. In which direction does the narrator's plane fly in the vignette entitled "Irkutsk-Moscow" (225)?
(a) East.
(b) South.
(c) North.
(d) West.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the vignette entitled "Purity of Blood," the narrator meets a woman who hails from what type of location?

2. The narrator says that the airport in which city is shaped like a plane?

3. The vignette with a title that repeats one word twice uses what word in its title?

4. The narrator sees a postcard meant to evoke Rome with an image of whose hand?

5. The woman with the red suitcase makes several trips to what country?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the theme of ethnocentrism depicted within the vignettes focusing on James Cook?

2. How is the theme of family bonds demonstrated within Annushka's story?

3. How is the loss of purity theme depicted within the narrator's conversation about giving blood?

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

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

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

7. When the words of Annushka's supposed tormentor are revealed, what had the old woman been saying?

8. How do Existentialist ideals creep into Verheyen's later writings?

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

10. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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