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

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

3. The narrator says that she prefers to be more like a gardener than like a what when it comes to her own narrative?

4. Captain James Cook's search for a mysterious island is depicted as taking place in what year?

5. The narrator describes the nocturnal brain using an allusion to which mythological figure?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What had the woman in rags been mumbling to Annushka when Annushka became frightened?

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

5. What country does the unnamed narrator say is the perfect place for observing people and why?

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

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

8. How does Tokarczuk use postcards as a symbol?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Tokarczuk's choice to tell the story of Flights using a great deal of first-person narration. What elements of the novel's themes lend themselves to this choice and what are Tokarczuk’s intended effects on the reader?

Essay Topic 2

How do the themes of deception and secrecy function within Flights and what is Tokarczuk’s message regarding these themes?

Essay Topic 3

What is the function of Kunicki's character within the novel? Discuss the characterization methods used by Tokarczuk in depicting Kuncki and his family and include in your discussion the reasons that Tokarczuk portrays the characters in these particular ways.

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