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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. How did Tanja die?

2. What topics did Slavenka and Evelinka's dinner party guests discuss?

3. What trendy look was Slavenka disgusted by when it appeared in Cosmopolitan magazine?

4. What does the author think about the title of her book?

5. As a child, what affliction did Slavenka suffer from on a trip to Italy?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Slavenka have to learn of Ulrike's past from a friend rather than Ulrike?

2. When Eastern European women had problems, who did they blame?

3. Why did Slavanka think of her old doll while shopping in Poles?

4. Under the Communist rule, why did the young people of Eastern Europe have little hope for a better life?

5. Why was Slavenka upset when her daughter asked for a Barbie?

6. Why was Slavenka startled to find a notated Bible amongst Tanja's possessions?

7. What pained Slavenka in a memory of her grandmother?

8. What did Eastern Europe have to fight for, following the fall of Communism?

9. Why was Slavenka disappointed after the fall of Communism?

10. Why was Slavenka worried about some of the things she taught her daughter?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Symbolism is a literary method of using an object in a narrative to represent a higher ideal. Choose from one of the following symbols that appear in "How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed" and examine its purpose in the story.

1) Soup.

2) Golub.

3) The Censor.

Essay Topic 2

The lack of hope is theme that runs throughout the book. Write an essay examining the lack of hope in one of the following people:

1) Tanja.

2) Slavenka.

3) Andrea.

Essay Topic 3

Many of the products and services Slavenka was raised with were poor quality, as they were managed by the state. Write an essay examining the cause and effect of communism on one of the following state run organizations:

1) The post office.

2) The phone company.

3) The appliance industry.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 575 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample