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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. This story of Eva leaving her husband foreshadows the narrator's self-discovery of what in the narrative?

2. How is Sisovsky connected to Judaism?

3. Where did Philip Roth grow up?

4. What does Olga write, which are beloved by the Czech people?

5. Where does Sisovsky say he arrived in Canada from in the beginning of the novel?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss the theme of voyeurism and spying in the narrative. How is this shown at Klenek's?

2. Why does Sisovsky tell Zuckerman Eva cannot return to Prague? How did they leave?

3. What is symbolically alluded to in the conversation between Sisovsky and Zuckerman regarding doubt?

4. Why does Sisovsky claim to have written to Zuckerman in their meeting? Where are Sisovsky's father's stories?

5. Describe the protagonist and narrator of "The Prague Orgy". What are the main subjects and themes in the novel?

6. What do Mr. Vodicka an the gay boy at Klenek's represent symbolically?

7. What does Bolotka relate to Zuckerman in explaining the orgy parties? Who does he claim attends them?

8. What causes Eva to storm out from the dinner with Zuckerman and Sisovsky in the beginning of the novel?

9. Why was Eva accused of being Jewish in Prague? Who accused her and how was he reprimanded?

10. Why does Sisovsky tell Zuckerman his novel is banned? Why did he leave Czechoslovakia?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the theme of Jewish identity, and how Philip Roth incorporates this theme into "The Prague Orgy" and his other works. What works by Roth are centered on the theme? How does "theme" differ from "subject" in a work of literature?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the setting of "The Prague Orgy", beginning in New York City in 1976. What were politics like in the U.S.? How were they different in the Eastern Bloc?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the principle objectives and obstacles of Zuckerman, Sisovsky, and Eva at their first meeting in the narrative. How does Sisovsky's objective impact the actions of the protagonist?

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