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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What type of author do the students seem most interested in studying?
(a) "Revolutionary" authors who are tied to current political ideologies.
(b) "Non-revolutionary" authors such as Joyce, Nabokov, Woolf, and Austin.
(c) Authors who have female characters with strong opinions.
(d) Authors who show the benefits of a religious society.

2. How does Nafisi describe her memories?
(a) As the barrier between her and her students.
(b) As sweet tastes inside her head.
(c) As surrounding her every day.
(d) As invaders that arrive abruptly and unexpectedly.

3. Why did Nabokov say that every great novel is a fairy tale?
(a) Fairy tales and novels both demonstrate the beauty of the natural world.
(b) Because all good novelists begin to write after reading fairy tales.
(c) Even though fairy tales have monsters, good ultimately wins over evil.
(d) All novels are stories with imaginary characters like fairy tales.

4. According to Nafisi, how is Yassi like Lolita?
(a) Both girls are reflections of Nafisi's personal experiences.
(b) Both girls have been raped by older men.
(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.

5. According to Nafisi, how is the character of Lolita like Nafisi's students?
(a) Lolita and Nafisi's students both exhibit characteristics of heroism in dealing with their past.
(b) Lolita and Nafisi's students are props in someone else's quest to find the perfect image.
(c) Lolita and Nafisi's students are both stuck in the past, unable to accept present conditions.
(d) Lolita and Nafisi's students are perfect images of the ideal woman in a totalitarian regime.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where do the intruders to Nafisi's house go once they are in her house?

2. In Chapter 9, what does Nafisi do to answer Yassi's question?

3. Where does Nafisi write her class notes?

4. In Chapter 14, what question does Mitra ask about "Lolita"?

5. How do the Iranian authorities view the country's past?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the similarity between Lolita's past and the past of Nafisi's students?

2. Why do the magician and Nafisi enjoy each other's company so much?

3. How is Professor X's method of teaching literature different than Nafisi's method of teaching literature?

4. What is the purpose of the dreams that Nafisi describes?

5. Why does Nafisi agree with Nabokov's statement that every great novel is a fairy tale?

6. Why does Nafisi describe the three types of women portrayed in "A Thousand and One Nights"?

7. What happens to disrupt the class discussion in Chapter 17?

8. In Chapter 2, why does Nafisi describe the first meeting of the study group in present tense instead of past tense?

9. Why does Nafisi ask her children about their memories of Iran?

10. Why does Nafisi include Part 1, Chapter 12 in her memoir?

(see the answer keys)

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