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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 desire led to Tomas's pursuit of women?

2. Who does Franz end up belonging to in death?

3. When asked to sign the letter, why didn't Tomas give the secret policeman an immediate and unconditional "no"?

4. How did the engineer respond to Tereza's resistance?

5. What did Tereza refuse to bring along on her walk with Tomas and Karenin?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Tomas resign from the clinic?

2. All her life Sabina had proclaimed kitsch her enemy. But, Kundera asks, hasn't she in fact been carrying it with her?

3. What does Franz realize at the end of his trip to Cambodia?

4. Does Tomas make a mistake by returning to Prague from Zurich?

5. Once she's in his home, how does Tereza behave that announces she does not condone what is happening (the lovemaking) between her and the engineer?

6. What does the article about the dogs being summarily shot in Russia signify for Tereza?

7. In the end, Tereza knows she has reached her goals. What are her goals?

8. Was Tomas right in not having signed the petition?

9. What is "kitsch?"

10. How do people react as Tomas tries to decide whether or not to retract his article?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

If you were in Tereza's shoes, what would you have done to survive Tomas's infidelities, assuming you did not want to leave him? Had Tomas stopped having affairs, what kind of woman would Tereza have become? What kind of relationship would they have shared? Would Tomas been able to have Tereza as the only woman in his life, or would he have discovered they were incompatible? Would having children made a difference in their relationship?

Essay Topic 2

Tereza and Sabina are the closest women in Tomas's life.

1. Compare and contrast the characters of Tereza and Sabina. How are they the same? How are they different?

2. What would have happened if Tomas and Tereza had not married and he would have kept both her and Sabina lovers? Use passages in the book to portray the relevance Sabina had in Tomas's and Tereza's life and whether it would have been beneficial for the couple for Sabina to remain in Tomas's life.

3. Should Tomas have pursued a long term relationship with Sabina rather than with Tereza? Cite passages from the book to show why Tomas may have found a more compatible person in Sabina.

Essay Topic 3

Choose one of the three options to write about:

1. Throughout The Unbearable Lightness of Being, the question of weight and lightness is often used to describe the reason behind a character's actions. Discuss which characters are pursuing lightness, which characters are more pursuing weight. Tomas, Tereza, Franz and Sabina.

2. Recurring dreams have a strong impact on Tereza. These dreams interpret her inner struggle with Tomas's affairs. Cite 3 dreams that were particularly frightening for Tereza.

3. Throughout The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera expresses quite a few observations about the Communist Regime and the people that oppose them. Cite 3 views that adrress those views.

(see the answer keys)

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