Print
Word
PDF
|
| Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. Why does Jaromil go to the beach with Maman and her friends?
2. To Jaromil, what determines a woman's beauty?
3. Why does Xavier constantly arrive late, no matter where he's going?
4. What is Maman's attitude about her affair?
5. According to Kundera, what is "tenderness"?
Short Essay Questions
1. As Jaromil reaches adolescence, why is manhood so important to him?
2. What revelation does Maman have about her husband one night after a party? How does this affect her relationship with Jaromil?
3. When Maman combs Jaromil's hair in front of her guests, how does he react? According to the implications of the text, how does this deepen the rift between them?
4. When Kundera opens the scene of Maman and Jaromil's vacation, he uses many descriptive words and phrases. What effect does this have on the reading of the novel?
5. What does the artist want most of all for Maman? Why is this difficult for her?
6. Given the first three paragraphs of Part 2, what leads the reader to believe that this character is Jaromil? What clues tell the reader that it is someone else?
7. How does Kundera describe Jaromil's nursing? How does this set the tone for the future relationship between mother and son?
8. Why is Jaromil attracted to the dark-haired girl? What does this attraction show about his development as a character?
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. When Jaromil returns at midnight after walking the university girl home, Maman becomes hysterical because she was worried about him. What does this scene show about these two people's perception of love?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Though the idea of running does not appear until the end of Part III, how is it present throughout the book? How does the desire to run guide many choices that the characters make?
Essay Topic 2
What significance is there in the dialogue? The author records more conversations between Jaromil and his mother than between any other people. How does this affect the reader's perception of their relationship?
Essay Topic 3
What implications are there in Xavier's dance with the older woman? Are details of her age seen as something beautiful? How does this dance show Xavier's triumph over a girl his own age? What about over his own age? How is his love for the blond girl incomplete without his demonstration of love for the old woman?
|
This section contains 1,801 words (approx. 7 pages at 300 words per page) |
|
