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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. Where is Ginzburg assigned?

2. What do the two women do at night instead of sleeping?

3. What does Polina Melnikova explain to the new prisoners?

4. For how long is Ginzburg at Yaroslavl?

5. What does Ginzburg learn at the end of June?

Short Essay Questions

1. About what do the female prisoners disagree during their discussions on the train ride?

2. What new rule is forced upon the prisoners and how do they react to the restriction?

3. How does Ginzburg compare Kostik to Keyzin?

4. How does Ginzburg offer an act of forgiveness for the man who labeled Ginzburg a terrorist?

5. How old is Ginzburg when she is writing this book and what does she find difficult to believe?

6. What gives the prisoners a moment of happiness and how do they share their goods?

7. What does Dr. Pickwick insist upon in treating Julia and Ginzburg?

8. What is it like for Ginzburg in her cell at the prison?

9. When is Ginzburg freed and what does she persist in believing in despite her life in prison?

10. Who teaches the new prisoners how to fake their lumber quota?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the following:

1. What do you think are the characteristics of a successful memoir?

2. Analyze and discuss Journey Into the Whirlwind based upon the criteria you decide upon in #1 and judge if Journey Into the Whirlwind is a successful memoir.

3. Do you think the criteria for a successful memoir should be different if it is written for adults versus young adults? Why or why not? Would most adults consider Journey Into the Whirlwind a successful memoir? What about young teens?

Essay Topic 2

Readers learn that Kirov's assassin was a Communist. This fills Ginzburg with a sense of foreboding. It also demonstrates that the government does not have complete control over its citizens, because the assassin is a Communist. It a Communist assassinates another Communist, it further implies that there is no such thing as a loyal Communist any longer. Since a Communist has assassinated another Communist, the government is now weeding through Party members to determine loyalty.

1. Discuss the idea that if a communist kills a communist official that means that there could be other communists who are not loyal to the government. Use examples from Journey Into the Whirlwind and your own life to support your response.

2. Discuss what you think about the way Stalin responded to Kirov's death. Use examples from Journey Into the Whirlwind and your own life to support your response.

3. Discuss why the statement: it further implies that there is no such thing as a loyal Communist any longer, is an example of black and white, absolute type thinking. Use examples from Journey Into the Whirlwind and your own life to support your response.

Essay Topic 3

Grandmother warns Ginzburg that a trap is being set for her, and that she should go as far away as she possibly can. But Ginzburg wants to prove her innocence, and her husband dismisses the idea of leaving. Ginzburg recounts that some intelligent people did indeed escape Communist oppression by slipping away to distant places. But Ginzburg admits she was not one of them.

1. Why do you think Ginzburg felt so strongly about proving her innocence? Use examples from Journey Into the Whirlwind and your own life to support your response.

2. Discuss how you think someone like Ginzburg might feel about her decision to not leave by the end of her ordeal. Do you think she may have regretted not leaving? Why or why not? Use examples from Journey Into the Whirlwind and your own life to support your response.

3. Discuss what it might imply about a person to know that a trap by an oppressive government might be set for her and still not take steps to avoid the trap. Use examples from Journey Into the Whirlwind and your own life to support your response.

(see the answer keys)

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