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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Nafisi see a parallel between Humbert and contemporary Iranian society?
(a) Because Humbert and the ayatollahs share similar views about sex.
(b) Because Humbert's actions would be prohibited in Iranian society.
(c) Because members of Iranian society would act like Humbert if they were permitted to do so.
(d) Because the ayatollahs also blame others and hide the truth.

2. What do the class members take turns doing each week?
(a) They take turns providing pastry for breaks.
(b) They take turns leading the group discussion.
(c) They take turns telling their private stories.
(d) They take turns reading a published copy of "Lolita."

3. In Chapter 14, what question does Mitra ask about "Lolita"?
(a) Why does Lolita continue to stay with Humbert?
(b) Why do people find pleasure in reading such a horrible story?
(c) Why does Humbert try to control Lolita?
(d) Why are we reading this novel?

4. How does Nafisi's acquaintance describe her students?
(a) As "nice girls."
(b) As "good students."
(c) As "pretty women."
(d) As "fine people."

5. Who demands entry into Nafisi's house?
(a) The ayatollahs.
(b) Nafisi's children.
(c) Students from Nafisi's study group.
(d) Members of the Revolutionary Committee.

6. What are the biggest threats to an idealized vision of an individual or a country?
(a) Goals for the present government.
(b) The memory of what was real in the past and a sense of imagination about future possibilities.
(c) Interactions between men and women.
(d) The use of literature as a teaching tool.

7. What symbol does Nafisi think of when she thinks of Lolita?
(a) A school report card.
(b) A school uniform.
(c) A helpless little girl.
(d) A butterfly pinned to the wall.

8. How does Nafisi feel about revealing herself in class?
(a) As if she were having her insides pulled out.
(b) As if she were being forced to examine herself.
(c) As if she were surrounded by her best friends.
(d) As if she were being undressed in front of strangers.

9. What becomes part of the "landscape" of Nafisi's class?
(a) The mountains in the mirror.
(b) Nafisi's life and family.
(c) The oppression of the Iranian regime.
(d) The presence of the magician.

10. Why is Nafisi nervous about the intruders being in her house?
(a) She has a forbidden satellite dish.
(b) She hasn't cleaned the house for a religious celebration.
(c) She believes her neighbor will blame her for whatever happens.
(d) She has young children who are afraid of guns.

11. How did Nafisi learn of her father's arrest?
(a) She was pulled out of her sophomore class in Switzerland.
(b) She heard her mother telling her sister.
(c) Her father told her many years later.
(d) The government came to her house.

12. Why does the literature professor dislike Manna and Nima?
(a) They write papers that disagree with his views.
(b) They dislike reading the literature he assigns.
(c) They are falling in love during his class.
(d) They are not able to write well.

13. What are students at Nafisi's school regularly asked to do?
(a) Attend funerals of martyrs for the Iranian Revolution.
(b) Bring in their friendship bracelets so that everyone has one to wear.
(c) Homework in the Persian language.
(d) Participate in a ritualistic stomping and burning the American flag while shouting "Death to America!"

14. Where is Nafisi's apartment located?
(a) In the middle of a mountain range.
(b) Across from an ex-American hospital.
(c) On the campus of the University of Tehran.
(d) Above a restaurant.

15. What does Nafisi's study group conclude about "Lolita"?
(a) She was a despicable and shallow girl.
(b) She was not the victim she always claimed to be.
(c) She was the victim of two crimes, losing her life and her own life story.
(d) She was a highly desirable but difficult young woman.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happens to the class after they read "Madame Bovary"?

2. How does the professor solve problems of literary criticism?

3. Why was Nafisi's father arrested?

4. Why is it so difficult to find a copy of "Lolita" in Tehran?

5. When the intruders enter Nafisi's house, what happens?

(see the answer keys)

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