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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. Who is the villain in "Lolita"?
(a) The individual with the imaginative mind.
(b) Lolita.
(c) The director of the summer camp.
(d) Humbert.

2. What does Nafisi believe is the main point of "Lolita"?
(a) It is a critique of what occurs in totalitarian systems.
(b) It is an example of how to achieve perfection.
(c) It is a morality tale about what happens to girls who disobey.
(d) It is a demonstration of religious fanaticism.

3. Why was Nafisi's father arrested?
(a) He challenged the educational system.
(b) He was not a member of the religious community.
(c) He lost a great deal of money and could not pay the bills.
(d) He ignored directions from those in higher levels of government.

4. What does Nafisi share with her male acquaintance in Chapter 16?
(a) A ham sandwich.
(b) An ice cream cone.
(c) A car ride.
(d) A dinner party.

5. How does the professor solve problems of literary criticism?
(a) By asking the class to vote on matters of interpretation.
(b) By talking to his colleagues on the University faculty.
(c) By finding critical essays that support his viewpoint.
(d) By telling students that literary criticism is not important.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is Mashid jailed?

2. Why are Nafisi's students like ghosts when they are walking through the streets of Tehran?

3. What are students at Nafisi's school regularly asked to do?

4. What do the class members take turns doing each week?

5. At the beginning of Chapter 18, what does Nafisi ask the reader to imagine?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. According to Nafisi, what is life like for a "normal Iranian citizen"?

3. What factors cause Nafisi to resign from her position at the university?

4. Why does Nafisi include Part 1, Chapter 12 in her memoir?

5. Why does Nafisi refer to two photographs in the first chapter?

6. Why does Nassrin say she has been caught in the middle of tradition and change her entire life?

7. What is the purpose of the dreams that Nafisi describes?

8. Why does Nafisi agree with Nabokov's statement that every great novel is a fairy tale?

9. What is the relationship between the imaginary rain shower and the meeting of Nafisi's class?

10. Why do Mitra and the other students find the Thursday study group to be significant?

(see the answer keys)

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