View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why is Nabokov's "Invitation to a Beheading" the inspiration for Nafisi to form the study group?
(a) Nabokov symbolizes the banality of Western thought.
(b) Nafisi sees connections between Nabokov's world and post-revolutionary Iran.
(c) Nabokov wrote about conditions in post-revolutionary Iran.
(d) Nafisi is inspired by Nabokov's characters who conform to totalitarian regimes.

2. Why is it so difficult to find a copy of "Lolita" in Tehran?
(a) The bookstores are unable to order books with female characters.
(b) The book has been banned.
(c) Students prefer to read from photocopies, not books.
(d) The bookstores are closed.

3. How do the students get enough copies of "Lolita" to study?
(a) They go to all of the second-hand bookstores until they find enough copies.
(b) They find one copy and photocopy it.
(c) They find one copy and pass it around until everyone has read it.
(d) They order copies through a local bookstore.

4. Why does Nafisi return to the two photographs of her students in Chapter 7?
(a) The photographs are evidence that literature is more powerful than clothing.
(b) The photographs show how much her students changed after they studied literature.
(c) The images show the contrast between the repression of the outside world and the individuality and freedom allowed in the apartment.
(d) She wants to show how her students are the same people regardless of how they dress.

5. According to Nafisi, how is Yassi like Lolita?
(a) Both girls have been raped by older men.
(b) Both girls are reflections of Nafisi's personal experiences.
(c) Both girls have been deprived of the beauty of an ordinary, everyday life.
(d) Both girls have had their lives changed by reading books.

6. Why is Nafisi nervous about the intruders being in her house?
(a) She believes her neighbor will blame her for whatever happens.
(b) She has a forbidden satellite dish.
(c) She hasn't cleaned the house for a religious celebration.
(d) She has young children who are afraid of guns.

7. Why does Nafisi's acquaintance refuse to meet with her students?
(a) He is trying to minimize contact with people.
(b) He does not like female students.
(c) He is unhappy with Nafisi teaching literature to these girls.
(d) He does not want to get Nafisi in trouble with the authorities.

8. Why does Nafisi's apartment lack matching furniture and fancy window dressings?
(a) She is more concerned with literature and the inner world of knowledge.
(b) Her belongings were taken by revolutionaries.
(c) Her mother does not believe those items are appropriate for women.
(d) She is too poor to afford material possessions.

9. Where are Nafisi's children when Chapter 19 begins?
(a) Tehran.
(b) Washington.
(c) At a restaurant.
(d) Jail.

10. Why are Nafisi and her students in the room?
(a) To protect themselves from the reality outside.
(b) Because they have nowhere else to go.
(c) Because they have been confined by the religious patrols.
(d) To demonstrate control over their own lives.

11. What are the biggest threats to an idealized vision of an individual or a country?
(a) Goals for the present government.
(b) The use of literature as a teaching tool.
(c) Interactions between men and women.
(d) The memory of what was real in the past and a sense of imagination about future possibilities.

12. What does the closeness of the room do to Nafisi and her students?
(a) It causes them to become personal and intimate.
(b) It prohibits them from sharing their personal thoughts.
(c) It creates a false sense of security in their daily life.
(d) It makes them nervous and uncomfortable.

13. Why does the literature professor dislike Manna and Nima?
(a) They write papers that disagree with his views.
(b) They are not able to write well.
(c) They dislike reading the literature he assigns.
(d) They are falling in love during his class.

14. Why do Ministry of Education officials ask the faculty at Nafisi's school if they thought they were in Switzerland?
(a) Because Switzerland is the model for the type of government the Ministry of Education is trying to establish.
(b) Because Switzerland has schools with conservative values just like the conservative values of the University of Tehran.
(c) Because the University of Tehran is the most liberal campus in Iran, and Switzerland is the byword for Western lax and decadent behavior.
(d) Because the officials believe the University of Tehran is too conservative and should be more like schools in Switzerland.

15. Why do the intruders want access to Nafisi's house?
(a) She is able to provide them with safety.
(b) They think she is selling and using drugs.
(c) They want to see what was happening on her neighbor's property.
(d) They are searching for contraband.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the villain in "Lolita"?

2. What is the main reason for Nafisi's resignation from the University of Tehran?

3. Why does the professor ask Nima if his wife brainwashed him?

4. What is the dream Nafisi and her students share?

5. What is the first assignment for the students in the study group?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 941 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample