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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. Toward what types of things has the narrator always been drawn?

2. As a child, the narrator had dreamt of one day becoming what?

3. With what form of comfort does Kunicki console himself after the disappearance of his wife and child?

4. The narrator pursues a degree in what discipline during her time at the university?

5. The narrator compares herself to what part of the body while discussing her role as a writer?

Short Essay Questions

1. What method does the narrator prefer when dealing with locations in which she has been hurt?

2. How is personification used to underscore the deep love Blau has for the study of anatomy?

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

4. How does the theme of deception arise within Blau's visit to Mrs. Mole's home?

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

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

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

8. What does the narrator announce as the aim of each one of her pilgrimages?

9. Describe Blau's feelings about the discipline of medicine.

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Tokarczuk’s use of metaphor, simile, imagery, and other literary devices as a means to send particular thematic messages within the narrative of Flights.

Essay Topic 2

Analyze Tokarczuk from an Existential perspective. What elements of life does it suggest hold the most meaning and why?

Essay Topic 3

Sensory details are used frequently by Tokarczuk in order to create vivid pictures of each character's progression through the narrative of Flights. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details utilized serve Tokarczuk’s creation of vivid characters to populate the narrative.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 923 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample