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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who asks Olga to show her vagina to a young, gay boy?
(a) Mr. Svoboda.
(b) Mr. Sedivy.
(c) Mr. Vodicka.
(d) Mr. Vondra.

2. What was the name of the man Eva left her husband for in the narrative?
(a) Mr. Cunek.
(b) Mr. Sobotka.
(c) Mr. Skromach.
(d) Mr. Polak.

3. Who does Sisovsky claim he looks like in his family?
(a) His grandfather.
(b) His uncle.
(c) His father.
(d) His mother.

4. What does Sisovsky claim to hate when talking with Zuckerman in the beginning of the novel?
(a) Politicians.
(b) Philosophers.
(c) Magicians.
(d) Ideologues.

5. What guest at Klenek's is a great writer who is scared of everything, especially the government?
(a) Mr. Fierlinger.
(b) Mr. Vodicka.
(c) Mr. Cunek.
(d) Mr. Sedivy.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Zuckerman claim he is going to meet in order to leave the party at Klenek's?

2. Who is with the boy Olga shows her vagina to at Klenek's?

3. Who tells Olga she would kill herself in America?

4. What quiet, lovely, residential area is referred to as the Venice of Prague?

5. Olga is married to whom?

Short Essay Questions

1. What reaction does Olga receive after exposing herself at Klenek's?

2. What does Olga beg of Zuckerman before he leaves the party at Klenek's? What does Bolotka tell him upon parting?

3. How does Zuckerman's view of his Jewish identity evolve from the dinner with Sisovsky through the narrative?

4. What took place that led to Sisovsky's father being shot? Who murdered him?

5. What literary allusion does Philip Roth use in Sisovsky's descriptions of his father? Why?

6. Discuss the theme of Jewish identity in Philip Roth's writing. What are his influences? What other works address the subject?

7. What does Olga demand before exposing herself at the orgy party? Where is Olga's lover, according to Bolotka?

8. What relationship did Sisovsky's father have with the Gestapo? When did he die?

9. How does Sisovsky describe his father? What does Sisovsky conclude his father belonged to?

10. What symbolism is revealed in the party at Klenek's? What are the attendees representative of?

(see the answer keys)

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