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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. How does Nafisi structure the first class sessions?
(a) With the students leading discussion and choosing what to read.
(b) Like a lecture class, with the students taking notes on Nafisi's lectures.
(c) With students reading "revolutionary" authors and discussing the parallels to contemporary society.
(d) Like a traditional literature class, with Nafisi asking questions and leading discussions.

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

3. What object does Nafisi refer to when she first describes the students in her study group?
(a) A photograph.
(b) A veil.
(c) Tehran.
(d) Her apartment.

4. At the beginning of Chapter 18, what does Nafisi ask the reader to imagine?
(a) They are standing on a street in Tehran.
(b) They are inside her apartment.
(c) They are at the university.
(d) They are walking down a leafy path.

5. Why is Mashid jailed?
(a) Because she is associated with a dissident organization.
(b) Because she steals flowers.
(c) Because people find out she was studying literature.
(d) Because she tells her parents she was translating Islamic texts into English.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What does Nafisi describe as the crux of the problem in "Lolita"?

3. What does Nafisi's study group conclude about "Lolita"?

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

5. Why do the students meet in Nafisi's apartment?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the role of literature in Part 1, Chapter 20?

2. What factors cause Nafisi to resign from her position at the university?

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

4. Why does Nassrin say she has been caught in the middle of tradition and change her entire life?

5. Why does Nafisi refer to two photographs in the first chapter?

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

7. Why is it difficult to find a copy of "Lolita" in Tehran?

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

9. Why does Nafisi believe the scene where Humbert picked up Lolita at summer camp is the heart of Nabokov's novel?

10. In Part 1, Chapter 18, the room where the class meets becomes a character. How does Nafisi describe the room?

(see the answer keys)

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