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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When the narrative begins, how many years has it been since the author left to live in "the city?"
(a) Ten Years.
(b) Thirteen Years.
(c) Three Years.
(d) Five Years.

2. The author likened his parents and himself to something rather simple. What did he liken them to?
(a) Kindling.
(b) A ladle.
(c) A soup pot.
(d) A fence post.

3. During his childhood subway train rides to "the city," what told the author that he was on his last leg home?
(a) The Brooklyn-Clark Station.
(b) The Borough Hall Station.
(c) The East River.
(d) The east and west side express lane junctions.

4. Where does the author step off the train when he first enters Brownsville?
(a) 35th Street.
(b) Broadview Avenue.
(c) Rockaway Avenue.
(d) Main Street.

5. The author stopped at the neighborhood drugstore to have lunch one day. While eating his sandwich, some of it fell into a pile of dust. How did this make the author feel?
(a) Judged by those who saw him have the accident.
(b) Abandoned by the world.
(c) Shameful for wasting food.
(d) Happy, as the sandwich had a hair in it.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where was city land all around Brownsville? What were those pieces of land used for?

2. What can the author see in every ground floor kitchen window?

3. Did the author's mother believe her son's generation would succeed?

4. Who did the author feel could intercede with God for him?

5. What kind of books did the author go to his cousin's room to read?

Short Essay Questions

1. What kind of geographies does the author describe in the last part of 'From the Subway to the Synagogue'? What do describing these geographies lead to?

2. Who does the demolished part of the author's childhood neighborhood remind the author of and why was she so important to him?

3. The author's mother was a dressmaker. What was her process of creation?

4. What was the author most embarrassed about during his school years? What made those years worse?

5. Describe what happened at the drugstore after the author's childhood therapy session.

6. How does the author describe the second street he remembers and what is it's name?

7. Which of the buildings in Brownsville that has been demolished holds the most fond memories for the author and why?

8. What is the nickname the author's father gave him? What is the meaning of the nickname and did the author like his nickname?

9. There was one topic of discussion on the Sabbath nights that always made the author happy. What was that topic and why?

10. Why didn't the author believe his cousin and her friends were of his parent's generation?

(see the answer keys)

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