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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. Which character is the main subject of Part 3, Chapter 27?
(a) Manna.
(b) The Kid.
(c) Mahtab.
(d) Yassrin.

2. What does Nafisi do with help from Mr. Forsati?
(a) Form a study group with male students.
(b) Organize a series of cultural programs for the university.
(c) Create a series of photographs that capture life in Tehran.
(d) Organize a series of lectures by prominent European authors.

3. Why does Nafisi form a friendship with Jeff?
(a) Jeff is one of her best students, and they enjoy discussing literature together.
(b) They are both actively demonstrating against the Iranian government.
(c) Because her relationship with her husband is strained, and she is lonely.
(d) They both enjoy having a friend who speaks English and has memories of America.

4. What is Nafisi feeling when the classroom trial of "The Great Gatsby" ends?
(a) Exhilaration about the engagement of the students.
(b) A sense of anticipation for the next novel.
(c) A sense of loss and mourning.
(d) Sadness because the students began fighting.

5. According to Nafisi, how can one stop "dancing with the jailer"?
(a) Become a part of the ruling party and end oppression.
(b) Remember that life is cyclical, and this time will end soon.
(c) Give in to the desires of the regime and follow the nation's laws.
(d) Find a way to preserve one's uniqueness and individuality despite opposition and persecution.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Nafisi's occupation after she leaves Iran?

2. How does Nafisi describe the Iranian perception of America?

3. Who is Hojatol-Islam Ali Khamenei?

4. Why does Nafisi include a chapter on "Washington Square"?

5. What is a perfectly equipped failure?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the magician tell Nafisi to stop blaming the Islamic Republic for all her problems?

2. How does Nafisi react to the increase in protests, demonstrations, and violence associated with the revolution?

3. Why does Nafisi describe herself as becoming irrelevant?

4. What are the similarities between the lives of the characters in Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" and the lives of Nafisi's students?

5. Why does Nafisi focus on Azin's painted fingernails?

6. What does Nafisi mean when she says that the real day of the Ayatollah's death has not yet occurred?

7. In Part 3, Chapter 14, why does Nafisi describe her students in such detail?

8. What is the impact of Iran's war with Iraq?

9. Why does the magician tell Nafisi she should return to teaching?

10. Part 2, Chapter 11 begins with a quote from Mike Gold, "Art is useful as bread." How is this quote related to the rest of the chapter and to previous incidents in Nafisi's text?

(see the answer keys)

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