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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why is Negar upset?
(a) She is being taken to jail for insubordination.
(b) She is not allowed to console a friend who had been poorly treated at school.
(c) Her friendship bracelet has been taken away at school.
(d) She is not allowed to join Nafisi's literature discussions.

2. Chapter 15 presents a clear parallel between the character of Humbert and which group of people?
(a) The students in Nafisi's class.
(b) The mullahs of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
(c) The parents of the students in Nafisi's class.
(d) The men who the students are related to.

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

4. What does the closeness of the room do to Nafisi and her students?
(a) It prohibits them from sharing their personal thoughts.
(b) It creates a false sense of security in their daily life.
(c) It makes them nervous and uncomfortable.
(d) It causes them to become personal and intimate.

5. Why is Nafisi worried about her students?
(a) Because her students show no signs of being individuals.
(b) She is worried that they cannot afford the flowers she expects them to bring.
(c) Because the students are not interested in reading and discussing literature.
(d) She is concerned that they will be punished by their families for attending her class.

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

7. Why did Nabokov say that every great novel is a fairy tale?
(a) Fairy tales and novels both demonstrate the beauty of the natural world.
(b) Because all good novelists begin to write after reading fairy tales.
(c) Even though fairy tales have monsters, good ultimately wins over evil.
(d) All novels are stories with imaginary characters like fairy tales.

8. Why does Nafisi's apartment lack matching furniture and fancy window dressings?
(a) Her mother does not believe those items are appropriate for women.
(b) She is too poor to afford material possessions.
(c) She is more concerned with literature and the inner world of knowledge.
(d) Her belongings were taken by revolutionaries.

9. Why does Nafisi's acquaintance refuse to meet with her students?
(a) He does not want to get Nafisi in trouble with the authorities.
(b) He is unhappy with Nafisi teaching literature to these girls.
(c) He does not like female students.
(d) He is trying to minimize contact with people.

10. What scene opens Chapter 12?
(a) The class sitting around a table in Nafisi's apartment.
(b) The members of the class arriving at Nafisi's house.
(c) Nafisi search for books in a bookstore.
(d) Nafisi teaching a class at the University.

11. Nassrin describes herself as being in the middle of what for her whole life?
(a) In the middle of insubordination and obedience.
(b) In the middle of fiction and reality.
(c) In the middle of tradition and change.
(d) In the middle of safety and danger.

12. How does Nafisi select her students for the small study group?
(a) She chooses students who earn good grades in all their classes.
(b) She chooses students who are loners or outsiders.
(c) She chooses students who dislike the liberal qualities of the university.
(d) She chooses students who can afford to pay her on a regular basis.

13. What is the main point of Chapter 12?
(a) To provide the reader with a sketch of the class meeting to discuss "Lolita."
(b) To provide the reader with an understanding of how "Lolita" was sold in Tehran.
(c) The students enjoy reading "Lolita."
(d) Copies of books are not readily available in Tehran.

14. What is the main reason for Nafisi's resignation from the University of Tehran?
(a) The University of Tehran is too liberal.
(b) The governance of the University is arbitrary.
(c) She wants to teach literature to smaller groups in private.
(d) She isn't able to do the type of scholarship the government required.

15. What type of author do the students seem most interested in studying?
(a) Authors who show the benefits of a religious society.
(b) "Non-revolutionary" authors such as Joyce, Nabokov, Woolf, and Austin.
(c) "Revolutionary" authors who are tied to current political ideologies.
(d) Authors who have female characters with strong opinions.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Nafisi structure the first class sessions?

2. Why does Nafisi return to the two photographs of her students in Chapter 7?

3. Why is Mashid jailed?

4. What happens to the everyday lives of Nafisi and her students as a result of the secret class?

5. How does Nafisi feel about revealing herself in class?

(see the answer keys)

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