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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Part III, Chapter 19, how does Jaromil get a fever?
(a) He stands on the balcony of a girl's apartment in the snow.
(b) He takes a walk around the snowy town without wearing winter clothes.
(c) He visits the university girl when she is sick.
(d) He sits on a park bench with the university girl.

2. What does Xavier find most compelling about the woman in the house?
(a) Her hands.
(b) Her eyes.
(c) Her hair.
(d) Her breasts.

3. As the story reveals, what is in store for the famous poet?
(a) Sudden death.
(b) Ostracization from society.
(c) Jaromil's hatred.
(d) Painful death.

4. What does the theme of the long poem reveal about Jaromil's thoughts?
(a) He is afraid he will never find true love.
(b) He is afraid of a woman's body.
(c) He is obsessed with a woman's body.
(d) He longs for death.

5. What puzzles Jaromil about the artist's poetry critiques?
(a) The artist's critique often use French poetic values.
(b) The artist's critiques are inconsistent.
(c) The artist prefers odd poetic forms.
(d) The artist uses words Jaromil doesn't understand.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which famous composer's music is played at the blond girl's funeral?

2. According to Kundera, what is "the first precondition of freedom" (Part III, Chapter 18, pg 121)?

3. Why does the artist paint two X's on Maman's face?

4. How does Maman shame Jaromil in front of her guests?

5. Where does Jaromil show off opinions about education which he heard from his grandfather?

Short Essay Questions

1. When the Communists stage a coup, Jaromil and his uncle fight about the justice of the action. What does this fight reveal about Jaromil's place in the world, particularly in the political realm?

2. At the debate in Part 3, Chapter 15, what arguments does Jaromil make about progress? Given his own life, how are these views ironic?

3. Why is Maman angry at Jaromil because of her love life? Is her anger justified?

4. What is the point of the scene in which Xavier leads his military compatriots to battle? Why does he not get his wish for death?

5. What does the artist want most of all for Maman? Why is this difficult for her?

6. In Xavier's interactions with the woman in the apartment, what role does water play?

7. "For real life is elsewhere. The students are pulling up cobblestones, overturning cars, making barricades; their entrance into the world is noise and magnificent, illuminated by flames and glorified by explosions of tear gar grenades" (Part 4, pg 175). What does this mean in the context of Jaromil's life?

8. How does Part 4 begin? What are the literary advantages to this?

9. What does Xavier notice most about the woman in the apartment? How does the woman use her eyes?

10. Why is Jaromil thrilled at the thought of catching Magda, the family maid, in the bathtub? What does this say about his sexual development?

(see the answer keys)

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