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

2. The narrator claims that what object reveals the natural state of the world?

3. In Josefine Soliman's final letter to Francis I, she accuses him of what transgression?

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

5. What does the woman with the red suitcase do for a living?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What object does Tokarczuk use in a metaphor characterizing the nocturnal brain and why?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Tokarczuk’s messages about guilt and responsibility within Flights. Focus especially on elements such as the feelings of responsibility Verheyen’s protege feels toward Verheyen, even after his mentor’s death.

Essay Topic 2

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.

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)

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