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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. Why do the intruders want access to Nafisi's house?

2. Why does the literature professor dislike Manna and Nima?

3. Who is Negar?

4. Why was Nafisi's father arrested?

5. Where is Nafisi's apartment located?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Nafisi consider Humbert to be a seducer of the readers of "Lolita"?

2. Why do Nafisi and her students feel so strongly about Nabokov and his works?

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

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

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

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

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

8. Why is there a difference between the students' level of comfort in talking about themselves and their level of comfort in discussing the novels?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"Reading Lolita in Tehran" is not told chronologically. The use of flashbacks and the telling of the story in segmented historical pieces distributed across multiple sections determines the shape for the novel. How does the element of time shape the reader's understanding of the memoir's major points? How does the element of time shape the reader's understanding of the characters Nafisi develops?

Essay Topic 2

In Part 3, Chapter 18, Nafisi describes a "perfectly equipped failure." In Part 3, Chapter 26, Nafisi provides characteristics of a traditional heroine. Using the descriptions and characteristics provided in these chapters, write an essay that addresses the following questions:

1) Would Laleh be considered a heroine or a perfectly equipped failure?

2) Would Razieh be considered a heroine or a perfectly equipped failure?

3) Which does Nafisi consider more worthy of admiration, a heroine or a perfectly equipped failure?

Essay Topic 3

"Reading Lolita in Tehran" is divided into four parts, and each part centers around a novel. The book's title emphasizes only one novel, "Lolita." "Lolita" is the emphasis for the first section of the book. Why do you think that "Lolita" was mentioned in the book title instead of the other novels discussed? Was this a good choice? If not, which of the other novels would have been more suitable and why?

(see the answer keys)

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