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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 did Slavenka's daughter admire about America?

2. What is the capital of Bulgaria?

3. In "Our Little Stasi", what made it difficult for Slavenka to pay her bills?

4. During Communist times, why did people trade space in their apartments?

5. What did Croatia eventually install to help citizens pay bills?

Short Essay Questions

1. What were the living conditions for those living under communist rule?

2. Why was Slavenka disgusted by the idea of natural make-up when she saw it in the United States?

3. Why was Slavenka disappointed after the fall of Communism?

4. What did Eastern Europe have to fight for, following the fall of Communism?

5. When Zsuzsa got a divorce, what inequality between her and her husband was she concerned with?

6. Why was Slavenka concerned that Americans could not imagine what it would be like to live in a Communist society?

7. Slavenka realized that, to her daughter, Barbie represented what?

8. Where did Ulrike live when she was released from prison?

9. Why was Ulrike's family forced to renounce her?

10. Why did the state keep an eye on Slavenka?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Symbolism is a literary method of using an object in a narrative to represent a higher ideal. Choose from one of the following symbols that appear in "How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed" and examine its purpose in the story.

1) Soup.

2) Golub.

3) The Censor.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout Communism, women in Eastern European were not valued. During the fall of Communism, Slavenka did not feel women received adequate representation in the media. Examine Slavenka's feminist views and their relationship to her upbringing in a Communist culture.

Essay Topic 3

Slavenka was raised to be an atheist. Examine her relationship with religion before and after Communist rule.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 560 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample