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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. How much time did Beta spend in the concentration camp Auschwitz?

2. While talking to Beker, who is about to be burned at the crematorium because he is too weak to work, what is Beta's attitude?

3. How did Gamma express his anti-Semitic views?

4. Because the Communist Party was at first illegal in Poland, what did party members do?

5. How did Delta return to his wife in Poland?

Short Essay Questions

1. Beta saw life only in terms of society rather than in terms of individual man. How was this his downfall?

2. Why is Gamma called "the slave of history"? Whose interests does he serve?

3. Beta's anger toward mankind became directed toward a fear of self-deception. How did this happen?

4. Rather than blaming these four men for the choices they made, Milosz says they were slaves to history. How is this true?

5. How were Beta's stories a fitting insight into his nihilist worldview?

6. How was Delta's poetry some of the most insightful work being written at the time?

7. How were Beta and the people of his generation fallen into dark hopelessness?

8. "Still, it was not easy to become a communist, for communism meant a complete revision of one's concepts of nationality " (pg. 147). How was this true?

9. In Chapter VIII, Milosz takes on the tone of a communist to describe the evils of the various classes. How is this more powerful than a mere description?

10. How did Beta's circumstances lead him to a poetry that constantly moved? Why was it restless?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Milosz asserts that the way to rule a nation's mind is through the word. Is this true or are there other factors equally important? Given what he says about both Nazi and communist controls over the printed word, how was this played out in Poland?

Essay Topic 2

Given the examples only of these four men, what is your impression of communism? Is it possible to get a good idea of both communist ideals and its reality by reading about their lives? Use examples from their chapters to illustrate your thoughts.

Essay Topic 3

The West, in not taking advantage of every artist, wastes a huge amount of talent. Is the East's method better or worse? Is there an ideal system in which exceptional artists are appreciated without conforming to a particular method?

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