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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Part 4, Chapter 20, what does Nassrin decide to do?
(a) Stay in Iran.
(b) Go to London to live with her sister.
(c) Get divorced.
(d) Get married.

2. Why does Nafisi state it is important to introduce her students to the works of Saul Bellow?
(a) Because Bellow presents Western society as not being decadent, and Nafisi believes her students need to see Western culture as not being decadent.
(b) Because Bellow provides an aesthetic counterpoint to the limitations of Austen's novels.
(c) Because Bellow shows the problems and fears of the West, and Nafisi believes her students look at the West uncritically.
(d) Because she believes her students should read more American authors.

3. Why does Nafisi include a chapter on "Washington Square"?
(a) It is a statement about the importance of Henry James.
(b) It is a memorial to a former student who was executed.
(c) It is a book that reminds Nafisi of her childhood.
(d) It is a symbol of the difficulties being faced by Nafisi's students.

4. What does the study group find disturbing about the texts written by the Ayatollah Khomeini?
(a) The texts are taken seriously by rulers of the country, even though they are absurd.
(b) The texts contain blasphemy, which is against the laws of morality.
(c) Manna knew they had been translated.
(d) Nassrin had read them and was talking about their contents publicly.

5. In Part 3, Chapter 14, what author does Mr. Ghoni use to indirectly question Nafisi?
(a) Mark Twain.
(b) Vladimir Nabokov.
(c) Henry James.
(d) F. Scott Fitzgerald.

6. Why does Professor R. continue to participate in vigils at the University of Tehran after he resigns from his position?
(a) He wants his students to know he did not leave because he was afraid the government would persecute him.
(b) He believes that the university needed to know how strongly he felt about his actions.
(c) He is angry with the university's decision to change the curriculum, and wants to punish the leaders for their decision.
(d) He wants his students to see him as a political figure and an inspiration for their own political choices.

7. What happens to Nassrin after she leaves Iran?
(a) She arrives safely in England.
(b) She returns to Iran because she misses her family.
(c) She travels to America.
(d) She stays in contact with Nafisi.

8. What is the relationship between Nafisi and her first husband?
(a) They clash over appropriate ways for women to behave and ultimately divorce.
(b) They enjoy a good relationship until Nafisi begins demonstrating in support of the Iranian government.
(c) He teaches her how to become a demonstrator and serves as her first mentor.
(d) She learns from him how to become a traditional Iranian wife.

9. In Part 2, Chapter 23, what are Mr. Nyazi and another student arguing about?
(a) Whether or not the government intends to close down the universities.
(b) The value of teaching "The Great Gatsby" in an Islamic society.
(c) Whether or not Nafisi should be expelled from the university.
(d) The morality of "The Great Gatsby."

10. How is Nafisi's generation different from that of her students?
(a) Nafisi's generation like the events of their past, while her students dislike their past.
(b) Nafisi's generation had no past, while her students have no future.
(c) Nafisi's generation dislike their past, while her students celebrate their past.
(d) Nafisi's generation had a past to compare to their present, while her students have no past.

11. What is a perfectly equipped failure?
(a) A person who gives up their own integrity, but fails to become a success.
(b) A person who has every advantage, yet fails to complete simple tasks.
(c) A person who consciously chooses their own failure to preserve their own sense of integrity.
(d) An individual who never tries to fulfill his or her potential.

12. Who does Nafisi meet with in Part 3, Chapter 10?
(a) Her study group.
(b) Local religious leaders.
(c) The magician.
(d) Officials at a local university.

13. Who is Hojatol-Islam Ali Khamenei?
(a) The magician.
(b) One of Nafisi's students.
(c) The successor to Ayatollah Khomeini.
(d) The president of the university.

14. In Part 3, Chapter 19, where does Nafisi go?
(a) To a concert by foreign musicians.
(b) To a class at a foreign university.
(c) To a meeting at the magician's house.
(d) To a screening of foreign films by a Russian director.

15. Who are the Mujahedeen?
(a) A group called the Party of Allah.
(b) The leaders of the University of Tehran.
(c) The members of a radical student organization at the University of Tehran.
(d) A radical religious organization that claims to be the spiritual and political heir of the deceased Ayatollah Taleghani.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Nafisi do with help from Mr. Forsati?

2. What happens to Iranian writers and publishers during the mid-nineties?

3. What does Nafisi describe in the epilogue?

4. What does Nafisi describe as "the most unforgivable crime in fiction"?

5. How is Mr. Nahvi like Jane Austen's character Elizabeth Bennet?

(see the answer keys)

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