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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 Jaromil wait to show his poetry to the university girl?
(a) Maman has told him none of it is good enough to show to the girl.
(b) He wants to show it to her when it's published.
(c) He wants to show her the long poem when it is finished.
(d) He hopes she will show him some of her art first.

2. What is Jaromil's first long poem about?
(a) The tragedy of love that is realized too late.
(b) Young lovers who are reunited.
(c) A man who suddenly realizes he is old.
(d) Death that comes early for a young man.

3. How does Xavier know that there will be no executions the day he hears shots fired?
(a) He has not yet given the command for anyone to be executed.
(b) The list of victims is in his notebook.
(c) He has the list of victims memorized.
(d) Only one family is being targeted.

4. What happens as Maman sees her son's physicality?
(a) Her tenderness increases.
(b) She becomes even more revolted by physicality.
(c) She begins to accept her own physicality.
(d) She begins to question her sexuality.

5. What was the dramatic action that led to the kiss between Jaromil and the university girl?
(a) The girl dropping her briefcase.
(b) Jaromil falling off the porch steps.
(c) Running from the police.
(d) The police light flashing through the trees.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is Jaromil filled with pride after sleeping with the redhead girl?

2. What can only a true poet know?

3. Why does Maman weep as the artist makes love to her?

4. On the train, why does Xavier avoid his Latin professor?

5. What classic womanly question does the university girl ask Jaromil?

Short Essay Questions

1. When the Communists stage a coup, Jaromil and his uncle fight about the justice of the action. What does this fight reveal about Jaromil's place in the world, particularly in the political realm?

2. At the ski lodge, Xavier kisses the old woman while luring the girl outside in the snow. In this scene, how do the women exchange places in life? How is this emphasized by the colors they wear?

3. 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?

4. How does Kundera describe Jaromil's nursing? How does this set the tone for the future relationship between mother and son?

5. What role do the twenty telephone receivers play in the story?

6. "For real life is elsewhere. The students are pulling up cobblestones, overturning cars, making barricades; their entrance into the world is noise and magnificent, illuminated by flames and glorified by explosions of tear gar grenades" (Part 4, pg 175). What does this mean in the context of Jaromil's life?

7. After the death of Maman's husband, how does she change? Though Kundera does not make it overt, is this change for the better or for the worse?

8. Why is Jaromil attracted to the dark-haired girl? What does this attraction show about his development as a character?

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

10. What is the point of the scene in which Xavier leads his military compatriots to battle? Why does he not get his wish for death?

(see the answer keys)

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