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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 position for a publisher does Kovály secure for herself in 1946?

2. For how many months is Kovály hidden by the resistance?

3. Which army reaches Prague in May 1945?

4. In which country is the ghetto that Kovály and her family are taken located?

5. Which of the following does NOT describe Kovály when she arrives at the camp?

Short Essay Questions

1. By the time Margolius is arrested, how many citizens in total had been taken into custody, and what often happened to the families of arrested individuals?

2. What do the Communists admit about the confessions made by political prisoners?

3. After Margolius' arrest, what contributed to Kovály's bad health?

4. Why is Kovály summoned before a Party committee in 1963?

5. What do the Nazis do as the Russian army advance westward?

6. What happens in Czechoslovakia as 1948 drew to a close?

7. What does Kovály realize by attending Communist Party meetings?

8. What happens economically in Prague shortly after the war's end?

9. Where is Kovály's family when the Soviet occupation occurred?

10. What happens economically in the spring of 1953?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the writer's purpose for writing "Under A Cruel Star." What does she wish to convey to the reader?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the conclusion of the memoir "Under A Cruel Star." What happens at the end of the story? Is it a happy ending? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Kovály's second husband, Pavel Kovály. How do they meet? What happens to Pavel after he marries Heda? Why does this happen?

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