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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 Helmuth learn that Brother Worbs has been arrested?

2. During the last day of school for Helmuth in 1941, what does his teacher say is his gift?

3. What is the place called where Helmuth and the other prisoners are taken at Gestapo headquarters?

4. What does Helmuth feel that he has done as he considers what to his to his family in his last letters?

5. When Helmuth is returned to Gestapo headquarters in 1942, what color do his and other prisoners wear?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do the Gestapo agents search Helmuth's grandparents' apartment, and what do they find?

2. How does Helmuth feel as 1940 ends?

3. When British bombers bomb Hamburg in June 1940, what do Helmuth and Rudi say about the incident?

4. What damage is done in Hamburg when British bombers bomb the city in June 1940?

5. Why does Helmuth get in trouble one September night in 1940?

6. What is the interrogation room like when Helmuth is interrogated a second time by the Gestapo?

7. What does Duwer say when he reads one of Helmuth's pamphlets?

8. What is the concentration camp like where Helmuth is taken after his first interrogation?

9. As 1940 ends, how is the war proceeding and what rumors are heard?

10. As Helmuth prepares to write his last letters to his family what does he think about what he has done?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the flashbacks, Helmuth is three when readers first meet him. How does Helmuth mature and come of age through his experiences during the Hitler era?

Essay Topic 2

Helmuth reads in a book by Heinrich Mann that “revolutions are rare because people are too selfish.” What happens to people who dare to question Hitler’s government? What do most people in the novel do when they see injustice or lose freedoms? Based on what the author reveals about characters and their actions, are people too selfish to revolt against Hitler?

Essay Topic 3

Once Hitler became chancellor, he began taking away the rights of German citizens and of Jews. What freedoms did Hitler take from the Germans and the Jews? What force did he establish to enforce his laws? How did Hitler and the Nazis abuse the power they gained?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 958 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample