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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When someone asked about his family and origins, how would Delta answer?
(a) Go into great detail about his hometown.
(b) Fall silent.
(c) Answer questions about his town but not about his family.
(d) Tell a different story every time.

2. What did Delta, in his enthusiasm, love?
(a) The whirlpool of human emotions.
(b) The words of intellectuals.
(c) Crowds and festivals.
(d) The literary cafes.

3. Often when Milosz sees women walking through the streets of Paris, what does he remember?
(a) A Jewish girl shot while running for her life.
(b) A Polish girl brushing her hair.
(c) His dead wife.
(d) An unknown girl run over by an SS truck.

4. As Beta relates, when Greek prisoners cannot march because they are too weak, how are they first punished?
(a) With three days' hard labor.
(b) With death.
(c) With sticks tied to their legs.
(d) With beatings.

5. Why are workers told that it is a crime to strike?
(a) They are working for the state, which is to say for themselves.
(b) The highest goal of state factories is efficiency.
(c) It is not in the best interests of the state.
(d) It has drastic negative effects on the entire nation.

6. While talking to Beker, who is about to be burned at the crematorium because he is too weak to work, what is Beta's attitude?
(a) Calm and detached.
(b) Malicious.
(c) Agitated and sad.
(d) Fearful of his own life.

7. What was the end result of Gamma's poetry?
(a) Poorly written, but heart-felt.
(b) Careful word arrangements that said nothing.
(c) Moving and deeply felt.
(d) Well-written.

8. Where did the man Gamma grow up?
(a) The city.
(b) The country.
(c) An eighteenth-century palace.
(d) A party member's home.

9. As Beta scornfully realized, how could someone have power in Poland?
(a) Seize it by force.
(b) Destroy all Polish underground resistance.
(c) Follow the procedures established by the Polish government.
(d) Overcome the Nazis.

10. After coming to power, in 1945, the Party recognized that the best way to control a nation is through what force?
(a) Brute force.
(b) Parades and speeches.
(c) The written and spoken word.
(d) Spies and informers.

11. As he got older, how did Gamma feel about his life?
(a) He had wasted his youth on reckless living.
(b) He had wasted his youth in service of the party.
(c) He had become too comfortable with his accomplishments.
(d) He had not devoted enough energy to the party.

12. Why is Christianity the state's primary enemy?
(a) It fosters subservience.
(b) It creates class divisions.
(c) It fosters skepticism.
(d) It encourages radicalism.

13. What did Gamma's second wife wear?
(a) Dainty calfskin shoes.
(b) Nothing on her feet.
(c) Heavy Russian boots.
(d) Thick Polish shoes.

14. How does Milosz describe Delta's poetry?
(a) A song played too quickly.
(b) A chubby angel.
(c) A kaleidoscope.
(d) An abomination.

15. Catholic Communists gradually lose everything except what aspect?
(a) Their trust in the Virgin Mary.
(b) The language of religion.
(c) Their sense of guilt.
(d) A basic belief in God.

Short Answer Questions

1. The state methods of teaching give the illusion of what?

2. After being captured as a Polish soldier, what happened to Delta?

3. What was the title of Beta's first book?

4. Why did Beta's writing assert that communism was salvation?

5. How was Delta's cheerful poetry treated?

(see the answer keys)

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