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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 is a perfectly equipped failure?

2. According to Nafisi, how can one stop "dancing with the jailer"?

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

4. Who is Mr. Bahir?

5. Why does Nafisi collect pictures of martyrs during the war?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Nafisi do during her time as a member of the Iranian Student Movement?

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

3. Why does Nafisi get upset with students in her class at Alzahrah University (Part 3, Chapter 25)?

4. How are Mr. Ghoni's statements about "Daisy Miller" in Part 3, Chapter 15, similar to Mr. Nyazi's statements in Part 3, Chapters 17 and 18, about "The Great Gatsby"?

5. Why does Nafisi call Catherine in "Washington Square" the inverse of our ideas about what a heroine should be?

6. What are the similarities between Sanaz's experience in jail and the experience of Cincinnatus in "Invitation to a Beheading"? What are the differences between their experiences?

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

8. 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?

9. What does Nassrin mean when she talks about the "ordeal of freedom" in Part 4, Chapter 20?

10. What does Nafisi mean by her statement that she "left Iran, but Iran did not leave me?"

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Nafisi opens and closes the book with images and accounts of the students in her secret class. This creates a satisfying conclusion and cyclic treatment in the book. What other examples of cyclic treatment are evident in the book? Choose 2 examples and write an essay illustrating how Nafisi uses cyclic treatment throughout the book.

Essay Topic 2

"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?

Essay Topic 3

America is presented as both reality and symbol, as a concept and a country. Describe the various ways America is interpreted and understood by those in Nafisi's classes and the Iranian government. How do those interpretations compare to Nafisi's personal memories and descriptions of America? What elements of America are emphasized? What elements of America are omitted? Why are there omissions?

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