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Reading Lolita in Tehran, A Memoir in Books Test | Mid-Book Test - Hard

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Mid-Book Test - Hard

Name: _____________________________ Period: ___________________________


Short Answer Questions

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

2. Where are Nafisi's children when Chapter 19 begins?

3. What is the main point of Chapter 12?

4. Why does the male student have to meet with Nafisi separately?

5. In Chapter 9, what does Yassi ask Nafisi ?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. In Chapter 2, why does Nafisi describe the first meeting of the study group in present tense instead of past tense?

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

4. Why does Nafisi get upset with students in her class at Alzahrah University (Part 3, Chapter 25)?

5. According to Vera Nabokov, what is the beauty in "Lolita" and why is it missed by critics?

6. Why does Nafisi think teaching "The Great Gatsby" was the right choice for that time and place?

7. Why does Nafisi believe the scene where Humbert picked up Lolita at summer camp is the heart of Nabokov's novel?

8. What is the similarity between Lolita's past and the past of Nafisi's students?

9. Why does the magician tell Nafisi to stop blaming the Islamic Republic for all her problems?

10. What does Nafisi mean when she says that the real day of the Ayatollah's death has not yet occurred?

Essay Topics

Several times Nafisi refers to the individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Write an essay that focuses on one of those rights. How is that right viewed by the Islamist Iranian Republic? How is that right portrayed in the literature Nafisi teaches? What does Nafisi do to assert her rights?

"Reading Lolita in Tehran" is not told chronologically. The use of flashbacks and the telling of the story in segmented historical pieces distributed across multiple sections determines the shape for the novel. How does the element of time shape the reader's understanding of the memoir's major points? How does the element of time shape the reader's understanding of the characters Nafisi develops?

In Section I, Chapter 14, Nafisi quotes Nabokov: "Curiosity is insubordination in its purest form." Write an essay that addresses the following questions about Nabokov's quote: What is the meaning of this quote? Why would curiosity be considered insubordination? What is the role of curiosity in Nafisi's book? Who is described as being curious? How does Nafisi's curiosity impact her students? How does their curiosity demonstrate insubordination?

(see the answer keys)

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