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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Part 4: The Poet on the Run, pp. 161-181.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was the dramatic action that led to the kiss between Jaromil and the university girl?
(a) The girl dropping her briefcase.
(b) Running from the police.
(c) The police light flashing through the trees.
(d) Jaromil falling off the porch steps.

2. What reason does the poet's father give for not having more children?
(a) Jaromil is such a nuisance that he does not want more like him.
(b) He cannot afford to raise more children.
(c) He was forced to compromise for one child in the beginning, so Maman should compromise and be happy with only one.
(d) He is about to go to war and would not be a part of the children's lives.

3. Why is the famous poet booed by the audience after he reads a poem?
(a) He is too old to be part of the future.
(b) His ideas are not Marxist enough.
(c) The young audience simply identifies him with their parents.
(d) His words no longer relate to the world.

4. How does Jaromil treat his dates with girls?
(a) As the potential for sexual activity.
(b) As rites of passage necessary for manhood.
(c) As exercises in conversation.
(d) As uncomfortable times he must endure.

5. What is Jaromil's first long poem about?
(a) Young lovers who are reunited.
(b) The tragedy of love that is realized too late.
(c) A man who suddenly realizes he is old.
(d) Death that comes early for a young man.

Short Answer Questions

1. In confiding to Jaromil, what does Maman say is her greatest love?

2. According to Maman, where was the poet conceived?

3. Why does Jaromil walk through the world with a feeling of guilt?

4. Why does Jaromil like the girl in the white coat who works at the store?

5. What does Jaromil write in his diary about the night he was supposed to lose his virginity?

(see the answer key)

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