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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What do the Party dialecticians assert about art?
(a) The state only slightly moderates art.
(b) Individual art outside the party lines has no lasting value.
(c) Poets may write what content they choose as long as it follows the same form.
(d) Individual art has intrinsic value.

2. The people who practice metaphysical Ketman are often former ____________ .
(a) Communists.
(b) Philosophers.
(c) Catholics.
(d) Humanists.

3. Witkiewicz thought art and philosophy were living out their last days, and how did he see their end?
(a) He found life without them unbearable.
(b) He tried to speed their demise.
(c) He couldn't wait until they were gone.
(d) He tried to slow their decay.

4. Milosz compares the Method to what animal?
(a) A fox, wily enough to deceive those who are skeptical.
(b) A powerful bird whose wing is broken.
(c) An ox, strong enough to bear the weight of reality.
(d) A snake, for which the tail begins at any point.

5. By standards of the East, as compared to the West, how is anyone with talent treated?
(a) He is allowed to go his own way.
(b) He is put to full use.
(c) He is ignored.
(d) He is rejected by the State.

6. As far as man's preferences in Western art and literature, what aspect does Milosz refer to?
(a) The inexplicable nature of his choices.
(b) The ability of the state to imitate the pieces he likes.
(c) The ability of the state to predict his choices.
(d) The fickleness of his choices.

7. In 1932, Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz wrote a book entitled what?
(a) Incongruity.
(b) Instability.
(c) Insatiability.
(d) Insecurity.

8. Witkiewicz's book dealt solely with what aspect of society?
(a) Salvation for mankind.
(b) Futuristic societies.
(c) Decay in industrial abilities.
(d) Decay in society.

9. How prevalent is National Ketman?
(a) Not of concern to the center.
(b) Limited to the upper circles of the party.
(c) Widespread throughout communist society.
(d) Limited to the people who have no power within the party.

10. In Milosz's experience, how does the East view everything from the West?
(a) Good.
(b) Unnecessary
(c) Pure.
(d) Evil.

11. In the 1940s, once they were freed of the past, how did the Eastern countries think?
(a) They regretted their choice.
(b) They had no choice but the New Faith.
(c) They modified capitalism to fit their needs.
(d) They returned to a feudalist system.

12. When Alpha and Milosz stumbled on a board with the painted words "Lieutenant Zbyszek's road of suffering," what did they meditate on?
(a) The story of Lieutenant Zbyszek's family.
(b) History's plans for a man's life.
(c) What remains at the end of a man's life.
(d) Their own possible deaths.

13. Harboring contempt for Russia is what type of Ketman?
(a) Professional Ketman.
(b) Sceptical Ketman.
(c) National Ketman.
(d) Ethical Ketman.

14. When a man looks to the West, why does he not have clear insight?
(a) The party center obscures the truth.
(b) His emotions interfere.
(c) Life in the East has drastically shaped his view.
(d) He cannot be realistic.

15. Alpha's pursuit of purity in his work was driven largely by what characteristic?
(a) Devotion to the church.
(b) Sense of personal purity.
(c) Jaded view of the world.
(d) Personal arrogance.

Short Answer Questions

1. When the Red Army came into Poland in 1945, how were writers treated?

2. What school of thought gave Alpha the tragic language he needed?

3. Alpha's response to the Nazis' violent anti-Semitism was what emotion?

4. In seeking a strong heroic element, what character/s did Alpha's second novel choose?

5. In Witkeiwicz's novel, if man is attuned to the absurd, what does he see?

(see the answer keys)

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