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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. What is the narrator's destination during her first true experience with travel?

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

3. The narrator comes to believe that change is different from permanence in what way?

4. The vignette entitled "Sarira" focuses on what kind of person?

5. As the narrator flips through television channels while unable to sleep, she determines that everything falls into how many categories?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Since childhood, what sight has filled Blau with a feeling of happiness and fulfillment?

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

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

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

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

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

9. What coping mechanism does Kunicki primarily use to deal with the stress of his missing wife and son?

10. What type of metaphor does Tokarczuk use to describe the river near her childhood home and why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the instances of irony within the narrative of Flights and analyze Tokarczuk’s purpose for including each instance you discuss.

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

Write a critical essay about Flights while using the critical power theory lens of feminist theory. Use textual evidence to back up your strong, specific claim regarding the novel's treatment of gender roles, the objectification of women, female empowerment, misogyny's role within society, or any other issues related to feminist theory that can be found in the novel.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 911 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample