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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. Who is Gunther shocked to find when he goes with Konig to a small village outside Vienna?

2. Who is the weakest link in the secret anti-Semitic group?

3. What is Reinhard able to recover on his own?

4. Who is killed by a hit-and-run driver?

5. Who is Herr Weisthor?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Gunther's theory that he reveals to Belinsky about Becker and Holls in A German Requiem - Part I, Chapters 10-18?

2. How did Becker escape from imprisonment during the war and get his assignment with the American company in Pullach?

3. Who is Dr. Rahm and why is Gunther disturbed by his involvement in the teenage murder case?

4. What does the discovery of hashish reveal to Gunther?

5. When Becker opened one of the packages he was supposed to deliver, what did he find?

6. What is Gunther surprised to see in Vienna as compared to Berlin after the war?

7. What does Becker's ex-wife tell Gunther about Becker?

8. What does Gunther learn at the Berlin Documents Center?

9. What is life like in Berlin as the Cold War begins?

10. What was Becker's assignment and who did he meet with?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the role of women in Germany in the 1940s and 1950s when the women in Berlin Noir are living their lives. What precedents do they feel compelled to follow? What restrictions do they have? How is this different from women in other European countries at the time and in America? For example, when Inge is not allowed to work despite her experience, what does this reveal about the German Reich and their principles for society? What freedoms, if any, did they have that women today do not have?

Essay Topic 2

"He had a nose that looked like it'd gotten more pockmarks in it than every bit of land between the Germans and English at the Somme." Find other examples of simile employed by Philip Kerr in the Berlin Noir that are effective and humorous, revealing interesting details about characters.

Essay Topic 3

Kerr is a master at dramatic devices. Choose an example of symbolism, metaphor, and irony, briefly describe them, and identify the technique which they embody.

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