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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Witkiewicz's book dealt solely with what aspect of society?
(a) Decay in industrial abilities.
(b) Futuristic societies.
(c) Decay in society.
(d) Salvation for mankind.

2. During World War II, how did the nearness of death affect the Poles' lives?
(a) It made them ambivalent to the future.
(b) It destroyed all sense of shame.
(c) It instilled terror.
(d) It created a daily thankfulness for life.

3. Those who assert that their work is most important, rather than the ends and benefactors of the work, are following which Ketman?
(a) Aesthetic Ketman
(b) Sceptical Ketman
(c) Ethical Ketman.
(d) Professional Ketman.

4. Alpha became a moral authority, as he had dreamed, because of his work in what place?
(a) In the underground, smuggling food.
(b) In the Communist Party, writing and publishing.
(c) In the underground, smuggling Jews to safety.
(d) In the underground, writing and publishing.

5. In Witkiewicz's novel, the characters ultimately become:
(a) Hypochondriacs.
(b) Catatonic.
(c) Schizophrenics.
(d) Bolshevik.

6. In 1932, Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz wrote a book entitled what?
(a) Instability.
(b) Incongruity.
(c) Insecurity.
(d) Insatiability.

7. As far as man's preferences in Western art and literature, what aspect does Milosz refer to?
(a) The fickleness of his choices.
(b) The ability of the state to predict his choices.
(c) The ability of the state to imitate the pieces he likes.
(d) The inexplicable nature of his choices.

8. According to Milosz, nations which have recently come under communist rule feel excitement at first, and then feel what emotion?
(a) Sadness for the loss of their autonomy.
(b) That they've been lied to about the government.
(c) That they've been caught in a trap like mice.
(d) Trepidation for their unknown future.

9. Fifty years of re-education within the party can change entire nations so that they become what?
(a) Docile and obedient.
(b) Utterly subservient.
(c) Sly and vicious.
(d) Fearful.

10. Citizens of communist countries become adept in what skill, according to Milosz?
(a) Acting.
(b) Persuading.
(c) Reasoning.
(d) Imitating.

11. Milosz ends Chapter I with the question:
(a) How long until man accepts the party?
(b) How long must communism continue?
(c) What else could man ask for?
(d) What the devil does a man need?

12. How prevalent is National Ketman?
(a) Limited to the people who have no power within the party.
(b) Not of concern to the center.
(c) Limited to the upper circles of the party.
(d) Widespread throughout communist society.

13. In Chapter 4, who is Alpha, the Moralist?
(a) A little-known prose writer, a good friend of Milosz.
(b) A well-known poet, a good friend of Milosz.
(c) A well-known prose writer, a good friend of Milosz.
(d) A well-known prose writer not personally known to Milosz.

14. Chapter 2 opens with the picture of the Eastern communists looking to the West with what emotion/s?
(a) Unabashed hope.
(b) Anger and confusion.
(c) A mixture of hope and despair.
(d) Disillusionment.

15. Milosz's book The Captive Mind deals with what subject?
(a) Society some time in the future.
(b) What he heard about after living in the United States.
(c) What he experienced living in Poland.
(d) Fictional characters.

Short Answer Questions

1. When did Alpha became a more religious writer?

2. In seeking a strong heroic element, what character/s did Alpha's second novel choose?

3. Peasants, in Milosz's understanding, assert what about their lives?

4. Cosmopolitanism, as defined by communism, is what thought?

5. In the eyes of the besieged Pole, what is the only poetry that will last?

(see the answer keys)

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