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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. What do the Jews continue to do in 1943 despite ever-increasing danger?

2. How does the Levy family support itself in Paris at first?

3. Where did Ernie find work in 1943?

4. Whose example does the farmer's wife who took him in encourage Ernie to follow?

5. What was Ernie's assignment in the French army?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Ernie decide he does not want to join the movements that are fighting back against the Nazis?

2. What happens to Ernie in the infirmary where he is put to recover from his torture session?

3. Why does Benjamin Levy say that to be a Jew is impossible?

4. What part does the music of the band play in the successful extermination of the Jews?

5. What details alert Ernie to the fact that the passengers will never leave this place?

6. Why does Judith tell the government offices from which she secures provisions that they should thank her?

7. What does the author find "admirable" about German education during the years before the Final Solution of Jewish extermination?

8. What change does touching Melanie make in Ernie?

9. In Ernie's dream, what mistake does Judith make as she talks about the wedding?

10. What do the old men of The Association of Zemyock say it is useless to do with any Levy?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

All stories are either plot-driven, relying upon the action of the story to maintain interest, or character-driven, where the most important story element is the changes that take place in the lives of the characters. In your essay, tell whether you think The Last of the Just is plot-driven or character-driven. Substantiate your position with examples and illustrations from the text.

Essay Topic 2

Covering a sweeping time period, Schwarz-Bart draws some scenes in great detail. For your essay, select a scene such as the one where Ernie is hurt so badly by Frau Turszynski's torment that he has to step forward to protest, or the scene where he has a normal childhood conversation with a German peasant child. Explain what your scene contributes to our understanding of Ernie and the world in which he is living.

Essay Topic 3

The author spends a large part of the book establishing a genealogy for Ernie that places him as the last of the Just Men. In your essay, select some of Ernie's ancestors and explain how the characteristics they demonstrated in their lifetimes are apparent in his actions.

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