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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. How does Maman mourn her husband's death?
(a) Nobly.
(b) Like a martyr.
(c) She did not mourn.
(d) Pathetically.

2. Why does Maman take her husband's picture off the wall?
(a) He had not been involved in the underground resistance.
(b) She fell in love with someone else.
(c) He had been having an affair with a Jewish girl.
(d) He had been complying with the Communist takeover.

3. During the summer, why is Jaromil alone?
(a) Maman is rarely home.
(b) His grandma died and the house is nearly empty.
(c) He has alienated all his friends.
(d) The university girl left town.

4. How is the university girl different from any other girl Jaromil has known?
(a) She gives him complete liberty with her body.
(b) She only lets him kiss her when no one else is around.
(c) She barely lets him touch her.
(d) She does not want him to meet her family.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What kind of dog does the art teacher have?

2. In Part III, Chapter 19, how does Jaromil get a fever?

3. What does Maman do with the books that the artist loans her?

4. What is Jaromil's criterion for a true poem?

5. What night does Magda take her bath?

Short Essay Questions

1. Maman and the engineer disagree about where Jaromil was conceived. Why is this an important debate?

2. What role do the twenty telephone receivers play in the story?

3. How are Jaromil's university experiences told in the novel? What message does this convey to the reader about the scope of the novel?

4. At the ski lodge, Xavier kisses the old woman while luring the girl outside in the snow. In this scene, how do the women exchange places in life? How is this emphasized by the colors they wear?

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

6. "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?

7. What role does Jaromil want the artist to play in his life? How does the artist fall short of these expectations?

8. Why does Xavier leave the woman behind at the end of Part 2?

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

10. "It was sad, but beautiful, too: for a moment, Jaromil lost the feeling of being a mere child" (Part 3, Chapter 25, pg 150). What causes this moment? Will it last?

(see the answer keys)

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