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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. When Eva saw a black man on her travels to Vancouver, who did she think he looked like?

2. What did Eva think that the sliced cheese and bologna smelled like?

3. What did Eva believe was the most important thing about speech?

4. What story of success did Eva's father hear from a man who spoke Yiddish about a Polish Jew who came to Canada?

5. What theater troupe came to Vancouver to perform Macbeth?

Short Essay Questions

1. How was Eva a "pretend teenager?"

2. When did Eva realize that discussing communism with her classmates was a waste of time?

3. How did Mr. Ostropov play the role of the "mad Russian?"

4. What did Eva mean when she claimed to have "no interior language?"

5. Why did Eva believe that speech was a class signifier?

6. How did the concept of "internal goods" give Eva comfort and allow her to feel more comfortable with herself?

7. How were Eva's views of communism different from her classmates?

8. When Eva and her family arrived in Canada, how did Eva view the two parts of her life?

9. What role did humor play in learning a new language for the Wydra's and especially Eva? What was it like for Eva to tell a joke? What did not translate from Polish to English?

10. Why did Eva choose English as the language she would write in when she received her new diary?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Eva use detachment to help her survive in Canada, in college and even beyond? What is she detaching from? What does this leave her to connect to?

Essay Topic 2

Compare how Canada and/or America is viewed from the beginning of the book to the end of the book. Begin with the family's views of life across the ocean from Cracow, and continue the journey with the family as they emigrate to Canada. Give specific examples from the book to support your statements.

Essay Topic 3

Describe the role of music and its importance to Eva throughout the memoir. Explain how her love of the the piano begins and what shape her music lesson take in Poland and then in Canada and beyond. How is a career in music viewed in Poland compared to a career in music elsewhere? Give examples from the book to support your discussion.

(see the answer keys)

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