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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. Why does the artist paint two X's on Maman's face?
2. What is Xavier's first impression of the woman in the house?
3. How does Jaromil treat his dates with girls?
4. What is Jaromil's criterion for a true poem?
5. Why does Maman take her husband's picture off the wall?
Short Essay Questions
1. How does Jaromil view the loss of his virginity as a metaphysical event? Is his perception true?
2. "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?
3. Why is Jaromil attracted to the dark-haired girl? What does this attraction show about his development as a character?
4. 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?
5. Why is Maman angry at Jaromil because of her love life? Is her anger justified?
6. In Xavier's interactions with the woman in the apartment, what role does water play?
7. "He [Jaromil] was searching for immensity. His life was hopeless, small, everything around him was flat, gray" (Part 3, Chapter 8, pg 104). How does Kundera's presentation of the novel prove this to be true?
8. How does the artist's concept of an "inner world" (Part 1, Chapter 6, pg 30) dramatically change Jaromil's character?
9. Who is Jaromil's only school friend? What picture do these two children present?
10. Maman and the engineer disagree about where Jaromil was conceived. Why is this an important debate?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
What is the setting of the novel? How does this establish the story? How might the story be different in another setting?
Essay Topic 2
How is Xavier an important person because of the list in his notebook? How might Jaromil seek similar importance through these fantasies/dreams?
Essay Topic 3
What is the purpose of Part 6? Is it helpful to be drawn out of Jaromil's life for a brief time? How far away from Jaromil is the reader actually drawn? What literary advantages does this section of the book have: propel the action forward, reveal characters, create a foil, or something else?
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This section contains 1,730 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) |
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