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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. What was Tomas promised if he made the retraction?

2. How did Tereza feel in the country?

3. In Tereza's dream, what did Karenin give birth to?

4. What did Franz come to realize was his real life?

5. In Part 5, Chapter 28, on their way back to Prague, what did Tereza brood about?

Short Essay Questions

1. After making love to the engineer, what does Tereza desire to do?

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

3. Once she's in his home, how does Tereza behave that announces she does not condone what is happening (the lovemaking) between her and the engineer?

4. What is at stake if Tomas does not retract the article he wrote?

5. Kundera claims that the way Tomas rushes into the decision to leave the clinic seems rather odd. He asks, could it perhaps conceal something else, something deeper that escapes Toma s's reasoning? What is the answer to his question?

6. Is it Tereza's fault that Tomas had to leave his profession and ended up a truck driver in the country?

7. All her life Sabina had proclaimed kitsch her enemy. But, Kundera asks, hasn't she in fact been carrying it with her?

8. What does the article about the dogs being summarily shot in Russia signify for Tereza?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When making decisions, Tereza and Tomas do not really look long term.

1. By retiring into the country, does Tomas and Tereza draw forth their death? Could they have subconsciously wanted to die? If so, what would each of their reasons have been?

2. Had they not died, could they have had a happy relationship? Why or why not?

3. Why didn't Tomas refuse to go to the country? Given the political situation of the country, did Tomas and Tereza have any other option? Overall, would you consider Tereza selfish in her actions? Cite 3 examples.

Essay Topic 2

Choose one of the three options to write about:

1. Throughout The Unbearable Lightness of Being, the question of weight and lightness is often used to describe the reason behind a character's actions. Discuss which characters are pursuing lightness, which characters are more pursuing weight. Tomas, Tereza, Franz and Sabina.

2. Recurring dreams have a strong impact on Tereza. These dreams interpret her inner struggle with Tomas's affairs. Cite 3 dreams that were particularly frightening for Tereza.

3. Throughout The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera expresses quite a few observations about the Communist Regime and the people that oppose them. Cite 3 views that adrress those views.

Essay Topic 3

Tomas and Tereza are crushed in a car accident.

1. Did Tomas and Tereza live under a lot of weight throughout their relationship? Cite examples.

2. Kundera claims that weight represents a more realistic life. Do you agree? Is Tomas and Tereza's life more realistic than other characters in the novel, such as Sabina and Franz?

3. Throughout the novel, does Tomas and Tereza make decisions with the intent of approaching lightness or weight? What is the results? Cite 3 incidences where their decisions lead to lightness or weight.

(see the answer keys)

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