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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. In what state is Helena when she finally leaves Kostka's flat a few minutes before seven?

2. What does the narrator of part five really want for breakfast before meeting Helena?

3. Who discovered where the unknown girl was spending her nights?

4. Why doesn't Lucie want to return to her father?

5. Who gave Helena the pendant she wears?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Kostka feel about how he treated Lucie, when he reflects back?

2. How does Jaroslav describe the "Communists of the time," after his first year at University?

3. How is Jaroslav's planning developing for the upcoming Ride of the Kings progressing?

4. How does Jaroslav feel about Ludvik when they see each other after Ludvik's sentence at Ostrava?

5. How does Jaroslav imagine his mother?

6. How did Kostka feel about Ludvik defending him to the University?

7. Describe the difference between Ludvik and Kostka's perceived relationship, according to Kostka.

8. How does Ludvik's memory of Helena differ from Helena in reality, upon their meeting in Moravia?

9. What event called Kostka's Christianity into question by the administration at the University?

10. How does Ludvik describe his first meeting with Helena?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the symbolism inherent in the gifts Ludvik and Lucie give to each other during their time together in Ostrava.

Essay Topic 2

What brings Ludvik back to folk music? What does this return symbolize?

Essay Topic 3

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

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