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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. Why does Maman not want to go to the lake on vacation?
(a) Jaromil did not want to go with her.
(b) It would have reminded her of happier summers.
(c) She did not have enough money.
(d) She wanted her husband to go along.

2. What does Jaromil see as the sign that his verses have true power?
(a) The artist's enthusiastic reaction.
(b) His own thrill at the sounds of the words.
(c) The poems' ability to stand on their own as independent works.
(d) The emotion on his mother's face when she reads them.

3. According to Kundera, what is "tenderness"?
(a) The affection of the woman for her lover.
(b) The sheltering of a child so that he does not mature.
(c) The proper response of a parent to the child.
(d) Treating the woman like a child, for fear of consequences.

4. In Part III, Chapter 19, how does Jaromil get a fever?
(a) He stands on the balcony of a girl's apartment in the snow.
(b) He visits the university girl when she is sick.
(c) He takes a walk around the snowy town without wearing winter clothes.
(d) He sits on a park bench with the university girl.

5. On the train, why does Xavier avoid his Latin professor?
(a) He failed Latin class the first time he took it.
(b) He has not been to class in a long time.
(c) His Latin professor does not like him.
(d) He thinks the Latin professor will yell at him for missing class.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the first time Jaromil's words save him from punishment?

2. What does Xavier do with the husband after his presence is discovered?

3. The second time that Jaromil does not make love to the university girl, what does she think?

4. Who was Jaromil's first and greatest friend?

5. What does Jaromil think is the quintessential surrealist object?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the artist want most of all for Maman? Why is this difficult for her?

2. How does Part 4 begin? What are the literary advantages to this?

3. "He [Jaromil] was searching for immensity. His life was hopeless, small, everything around him was flat, gray" (Part 3, Chapter 8, pg 104). How does Kundera's presentation of the novel prove this to be true?

4. When Kundera opens the scene of Maman and Jaromil's vacation, he uses many descriptive words and phrases. What effect does this have on the reading of the novel?

5. What revelation does Maman have about her husband one night after a party? How does this affect her relationship with Jaromil?

6. Given the first three paragraphs of Part 2, what leads the reader to believe that this character is Jaromil? What clues tell the reader that it is someone else?

7. Who is Jaromil's only school friend? What picture do these two children present?

8. Why is Maman angry at Jaromil because of her love life? Is her anger justified?

9. When Jaromil returns at midnight after walking the university girl home, Maman becomes hysterical because she was worried about him. What does this scene show about these two people's perception of love?

10. When the artist explains the red and brown painting to Maman, what is her response? How does this set the tone for the rest of their relationship?

(see the answer keys)

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