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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. Who notices during their visits that Verheyen is becoming increasingly obsessed with his amputated body part?
(a) Professor Ruysch.
(b) Achilles.
(c) Van Horssen.
(d) The narrator.

2. The narrator laments the plights of people who speak what language as their native tongue?
(a) Russian.
(b) English.
(c) Portuguese.
(d) Spanish.

3. Kunstkammer is the word for "cabinet of curiosities" (267) in what language?
(a) Dutch.
(b) French.
(c) Portuguese.
(d) German.

4. The narrator explains that the airport in which city is shaped like a computer chip?
(a) Frankfurt.
(b) Tokyo.
(c) San Francisco.
(d) Chicago.

5. The narrator sees herself as "the perfect" (179) what?
(a) Liar.
(b) Observer.
(c) Sinner.
(d) Pilgrim.

Short Answer Questions

1. The woman with the red suitcase stops in what location on her way home from visiting her ex-lover?

2. What part of the fictional Philip Verheyen's own body does he dissect over the course of several years?

3. When the narrator dreams of cities as enormous tree trunks, what is her estimation of how high the live trees must have reached?

4. The narrator discusses a statue of what entity that appeared to have arrived in the world fully-formed?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. In what way does the unnamed narrator show an affinity for secrecy?

3. In what way does Tokarczuk use dialogue in order to highlight a lack of sensitivity in tourists?

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

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

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

7. What element does the narrator name as a "natural" (227) characteristic of the world?

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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