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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. How does Jaromil feel after talking to the police about the redhead's brother?

2. When Jaromil wants to recite poetry to the redhead, what disturbing thought occurs to him?

3. According to Kundera, who ruled the epoch about which he is writing?

4. While walking with the redhead one day, whom does Jaromil see?

5. According to the janitor's son, why do policemen like to read poetry?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does the author insert his own thoughts into Part 6, Chapter 1? What effect does this have on this entire part?

3. "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?

4. When the girl visits the middle-aged man, she is wearing winter clothes. What does this detail reveal about the timing in the story?

5. The group of poets, Jaromil among them, is invited to speak at the police academy in the countryside. What is the irony of this situation and what does it say about the ideals they espouse?

6. After not sleeping with the cinematographer, Jaromil considers his underwear for a long time, in light of the women involved. What does he decide? How does this single piece of clothing drive so much of what he does?

7. Kundera says that the young person can be so loyally devoted to an idea because he believes in absolutes (Part 5, Chapter 6, pg 220). How does this fit with Jaromil's personality?

8. Maman is disillusioned about the cinematography girl after the girl does not invite her to the party. How does this show the similarity between Maman and the girl?

9. During the party at the cinematography girl's apartment, how does Jaromil's clothing reflect his state of mind?

10. "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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What role does guilt play in Jaromil's life? How does Maman use guilt, and how is she susceptible to it herself?

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 element causes Jaromil's death? How is this suited to his life? What does it mean that at the end he looked into his own face, and what horror is added in that moment?

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