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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. In Part 5, Chapter 7, Tomas recalls how after leaving Zurich for Prague, he felt he...

2. How did Tomas feel about his window washing job after a while?

3. What most repelled Sabina of Communism?

4. What did Tereza understand the benches floating downstream to mean in her dream?

5. Sabina liked America...

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Tomas's work at the clinic.

2. Why does Tereza yearn to make love to other men?

3. Describe Tomas's experience as a window washer.

4. In the end, Tereza knows she has reached her goals. What are her goals?

5. What is "kitsch?"

6. What did Tereza worry would happen if Tomas found out about her affair with the engineer?

7. In Part 7, Chapter 4, why does Tereza think that her love for Karenin is better than the love between her and Tomas?

8. When talking to his son, Simon, what is Tomas's attitude about the article he had written?

9. In Part 4, Chapter 13, Tereza has a dream where she admits to the executioner that it wasn't her choice to come to the hill to die. Has she subconsciously renounced responsibility for her actions in order to proceed with what she wants to do?

10. Why does Franz change his mind and decide to go to Cambodia?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Kundera has an entire section about misunderstood words between Franz and Sabina.

1. Was misunderstandings of words what led to Franz's and Sabina's break-up or were they simply not meant to be together? Cite 3 examples that support your theory.

2. had Sabina and Franz really been in love, would there have been a misunderstanding of words? Cite examples to prove your theory.

3. In Franz's case, was there a misunderstanding of words or a misunderstanding of women? How did Franz's upbringing affect his personality? Cite 3 examples of how his upbringing influenced the relationships he ended up having with women.

Essay Topic 2

Milan Kundera writes that Franz and Simon are the dreamers of this novel.

1. Compare and contrast the characters of Franz and Simon. How are they the same? How are they different?

2. What purpose does Franza and Simon serve in the novel? Use 3 events from the book where Franz and Simon's characters have an influence on the theme, and the characters, of the book.

3. Who is the bigger dreamer, Franz or Simon? Cite several examples from the book to support your case.

Essay Topic 3

Tomas is a surgeon out of a deep passion and desire.

1. How many times does Tomas jeopardize his career? Cite the incidences where TOmas chooses a route that takes him further and further away from his career.

2. Tomas descends from one job to another, but he claims to Tereza at the end that he is happy. Is Tomas truly happy or pretending to be so? Cite 3 incidences that support your theory.

3. Had Tomas remained in Zurich, where his career as a surgeon flourished, would he have been better off? Or was he destined to be with Tereza and didn't really have a choice? Cite 3 incidences from the book that support your theory.

(see the answer keys)

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