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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happens to the everyday lives of Nafisi and her students as a result of the secret class?

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

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

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

5. How does Nafisi introduce the reader to the students in her class?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to Nafisi, what is life like for a "normal Iranian citizen"?

2. According to Vera Nabokov, what is the beauty in "Lolita" and why is it missed by critics?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10. What does the magician do with the photographs Nafisi shows him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Section I, Chapter 4, Mahsid says "everyday life does not have fewer horrors than prison." Choose 3 characters from the book and write an essay that illustrates the truthfulness or untruthfulness of this statement from each of their perspectives. What are their everyday horrors? How do these characters respond to them?

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the memoir, Nafisi returns to the issue of wearing the veil. Write an essay that addresses Nafisi's feelings about the veil. What does the veil represent for Nafisi personally? What does it represent for her professionally? How is the veil used as a symbol in this book?

Essay Topic 3

Choose one of the students from one of Nafisi's University classes and one of the students from Nafisi's secret class. Describe how the life of each character was shaped through his or her interaction with fiction. What role or roles does fiction play in the life of that character? Does the character change at all through his or her interaction with fiction?

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