View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the narrator say that the Jews that were familiar with hardship did not want to waste?

2. What does Swede wonder is connected with his preoccupations regarding Merry at the end of Chapter 4?

3. Whom does Jerry not say Swede had to live with that caused pressure on him when talking to Nathan at the class reunion?

4. What does Merry stop doing as a teen in regards to hygiene?

5. Besides being self-absorbed, what other word is used to describe Swede's daughter in Chapter 3?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Rita tell Swede that Merry says about him and her mother?

2. What does Nathan reminisce about regarding his high school memories while preparing a speech for his reunion?

3. How is Rita's first visit to the glove factory described?

4. What reason does Nathan give Jerry for coming to the reunion?

5. What is the nature of Nathan's conversation with Ira at the high school reunion?

6. What is the nature of Nathan's reminiscence about "The Kid from Tomkinsville"?

7. What does Swede remember about when Merry watched monks on TV?

8. What does Merry begin doing in New York as a teenager?

9. What is Nathan fascinated with in regard to his childhood culture?

10. Swede reads about bombs over five years after Rita's visit that remind him of Merry. How are they described?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the portrayal of the Jewish neighborhood in the book. What importance did this culture have in Nathan and Swede's upbringing and future?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the role of stuttering in the book. What did Merry's bout with stuttering suggest about her mental health?

Essay Topic 3

One of the major factors to create Merry's militant actions is the impact of Swede's kiss to Merry as a child.

Part 1) What is telling of Merry based on her request that her father kiss her like he would her mother?

Part 2) What about Swede's sudden pullback after he had kissed Merry as a child could have caused her militant behavior later in life?

Part 3) What about Swede's inability to understand the impact his kiss had on Merry suggests he is unable to relate to others in his life?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 670 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample