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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 Jaromil agree to read in the presentation of poets?

2. What is the last thing Jaromil ever sees?

3. While Jaromil is answering questions about love and socialism, what is he most conscious of?

4. Why is it important to Jaromil that he die by fire?

5. How long has it been since the middle-aged man saw the girl who rang his doorbell?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are Jaromil's hopes for the two women in his life? What does this show about his understanding of both women?

2. How is the girl a different person from when she went into the prison? How is she more like Jaromil had been?

3. What does the middle-aged man tell the girl about Jaromil? How is this story the opposite of what Jaromil ever wanted?

4. Why does Jaromil want to undress the redhead? How does this show his inadequate understanding of relationships?

5. How does Jaromil feel while he is visiting the janitor's son at the police station? What does this say about his personal growth?

6. What arguments do Jaromil and the redhead have concerning their families? How does this illustrate Jaromil's juvenile mindset?

7. "Only a real poet knows how lonely it is inside the mirrored house of poetry" (Part 7, Chapter 1, pg 289). Where else does the reader see mirrors in the story, and how does this sentence relate to Jaromil's life?

8. Jaromil's first revelation about duty is that it is "voluntary and represents human daring and dignity" (Part 5, Chapter 11, pg 263). Given his situation, is this true?

9. Near the end of the book, Xavier betrays Jaromil by leaving him behind. What is the significance of this scene?

10. "History does not always make a dramatic entrance, it often seeps through every-day life like dirty dishwater. In our story, History makes its appearance in the guise of underwear" (Part 5, Chapter 8, pg 239). What does this mean in the context of Jaromil's story?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

What interaction do the characters have with nature? When is nature kind and when is it cruel? How much responsibility does nature bear for actions in the characters' lives (i.e., the boulder, the park, the snow, and the cold wind).

Essay Topic 3

Find examples of older people in love with younger. How does this fit the Freudian theme of Jaromil with his mother? What is the significance in the fact that Xavier cannot undress the old woman?

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