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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. What did the Czech people hate Eva for?

2. Why does Sisovsky claim the Czech government let them leave?

3. What did the Gestapo officer come to Sisovsky's father's house every day to do during World War II?

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

5. What does Olga demand before showing her vagina to the boy at the orgy?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What does Olga represent symbolically in the narrative?

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

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

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

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

8. What does the story of Eva's past foreshadow for the protagonist?

9. What does Sisovsky tell Zuckerman about Eva's past in Prague when they first meet?

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

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

Discuss the author's use of foreshadowing in the narrative and which discusses the narrative voice of the work. How does Zuckerman, as narrator, change through Sisovsky's story?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the repression of homosexuality in the narrative and in Communist Czechoslovakia. How is this demonstrated in Mr. Vodicka and the young gay boy at the party?

(see the answer keys)

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