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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. Who does Sisovsky claim he looks like in his family?

2. What does Olga tell Bolotka she will steal tonight at Klenek's party?

3. What kind of response did Zuckerman's famous novel have in America, according to Sisovsky?

4. Who begs Zuckerman to stay and have sex at the Klenek party?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. What duality and conflict does Sisovsky face in America? What does Eva?

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

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

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

8. What does Zuckerman pass on his way to Klenek's? What does he observe upon arriving at the party?

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

10. What does Bolotka tell Zuckerman about Olga when they first meet? Who approaches Olga to reveal herself at the party?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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 3

Describe the character of Zdenek Sisovsky and the banning of his novel in Prague. What control did Communist authorities have over the censoring of books and literature?

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This section contains 898 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample