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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. After Jaromil hears about the girl's brother, what action does he want her to take?
3. What is Jaromil's opinion of the redhead's family?
4. What happens during the second half of Jaromil's poetry recitation?
5. Just outside the prison, why does the girl hate to see the horses and riders?
Short Essay Questions
1. When Jaromil is angry at the redhead for being fifteen minutes late, what change ensues in their relationship? How does this mark a turning point in Jaromil's development as a person?
2. As it is painfully revealed in Part 5, Chapters 4 - 6, why do Maman and Jaromil struggle to live together? What does this say about their relationship as mother and son?
3. 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?
4. "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?
5. What are Jaromil's hopes for the two women in his life? What does this show about his understanding of both women?
6. Near the end of the book, Xavier betrays Jaromil by leaving him behind. What is the significance of this scene?
7. After a period of estrangement from Maman, why is Jaromil ready to make peace with her? How do the two of them have very different perceptions of this reconciliation?
8. When the girl visits the middle-aged man, she is wearing winter clothes. What does this detail reveal about the timing in the story?
9. In planning the documentary about Jaromil's life, what do Maman and Jaromil reveal about themselves? What do they reveal about their relationship?
10. How does Jaromil feel while he is visiting the janitor's son at the police station? What does this say about his personal growth?
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 does the beautiful blond girl's death prefigure Jaromil's own death? How have both people been betrayed by Xavier?
Essay Topic 3
What is the setting of the novel? How does this establish the story? How might the story be different in another setting?
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This section contains 1,875 words (approx. 7 pages at 300 words per page) |
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