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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 does the narrator view the town square of his hometown after his long absence?

2. What does Zemanek do at university?

3. Helena believes that there is no split between what?

4. Where does Kostka live?

5. After the woman giving Ludvik finishes soaping his face and gets up to retrieve the razor, Ludvick wants to look at her and realizes what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the relationship between Kostka and Ludvik like?

2. How does Ludvik find out the identity of the woman who shaved him?

3. How does Ludvik take the first part of his shave?

4. What were the common criticisms given to students at University in the Party? Ludvik describes them as "seeds" that all the students carried with them, to be used against themselves at a moment's notice.

5. Describe Ludvik's hotel room in Moravia.

6. What is Kostka's bachelor pad like?

7. How does Helena feel about the Party?

8. What is a typical day in the life of Ludvik at Ostrava?

9. What were the early days of Helena and Zemanek's relationship like?

10. What finally prompted Helena and Zemanek to get married?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What makes Lucie afraid of physical intimacy and how is it overcome?

Essay Topic 2

What major event ends the novel "The Joke", and what does it symbolize?

Essay Topic 3

Describe a genuine Moravian wedding. Pick some symbols to describe, compare and contrast.

(see the answer keys)

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