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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Gemma describe the bad fairy in Chapter 3?

2. In Gemma's fairy tale story, what does the queen name the baby?

3. What does the building where Becca works overlook?

4. What does Becca note about Gemma's family in Chapter 6?

5. Who is Howie?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the documents that Becca falls asleep going over in Chapter 6?

2. After Sylvia and Shana have left in Chapter 2, what does Gemma tell Becca, and make Becca promise to do?

3. What does Sylvia press Gemma for a definition for in Chapter 9?

4. What name does Becca have for her car in Chapter 2? Why has she named her car?

5. Besides the document with an unknown name on it, what is inside the carved box which had belonged to Gemma?

6. What do the Berlins debate about Gemma's real name in Chapter 4?

7. What does Becca's father remind her of when she says she is going to work in Chapter 8?

8. What is different about Gemma's version of Briar Rose's story from the traditional version?

9. Where are Becca's work offices housed? What were Becca's first 'real' articles at the Advocate about?

10. After Gemma's funeral, what do Becca's parents reveal was found among Gemma's things?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss conflict in "Briar Rose". Who is in conflict with whom? What events or situations cause these conflicts? Are the major conflicts resolved? If so, how?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze and interpret the character Josef. Who is Josef and what is his role in the story? How did he know Gemma? Describe his experiences during WWII.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze Yolen's use of symbolism in the novel "Briar Rose". What are some examples of symbolism in the novel? What do these symbols represent? How do the examples of symbolism relate to the theme of death and the Holocaust?

(see the answer keys)

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