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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 claims that when a beached whale is saved and is sent to a particular country, its fate is what?

2. The narrator refers to the inevitable entrapment of people who have not mastered the art of taking what action?

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

4. Who notices during their visits that Verheyen is becoming increasingly obsessed with his amputated body part?

5. In the vignette entitled "Whales, or: Drowning in Air," the narrator depicts a beached whale in what location?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. How does the theme of obsession arise within the story about Verheyen?

10. Who is Annushka?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How are the topics of inheritance and legacy treated within the novel Flights and how does the treatment of these themes relate to the novel's depicted messages?

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

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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