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 Becca ask Josef in Chapter 24?

2. What does Gemma do for Becca before continuing her story in Chapter 19?

3. Why does Becca lie and say she doesn't understand Gemma's words in Chapter 17?

4. What type of tree does the prince walk along in Chapter 21?

5. What is Brda?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 20, what does Magda say inspired her to return to her own Jewish roots?

2. How does Gemma explain that the cursed, dead people in her story can have future lives?

3. Why does Becca point out that Gemma had no tattoos?

4. Who is Magda Bronski?

5. What does Becca find out about Gitl Mandlestein in Chapter 10?

6. What do Becca and Magda discover about the people in Chelmno?

7. What frightens the girls on Halloween in Chapter 21?

8. How does Becca find out the meaning of 'Ksiezniczka'?

9. What part of the story does Gemma tell Becca in Chapter 11?

10. In Chapter 12, what does Becca note is missing from the ending of Gemma's version of the Briar Rose story?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What happens at the end of the novel "Briar Rose"? Is everything resolved? Are there any surprises at the end of the novel? What happens to the principle characters?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the author of the novel "Briar Rose", Jane Yolen. What others works has she written? What similarities or connections can be found between this novel and Yolen's other work? How is she regarded in the literary world?

Essay Topic 3

What is an allegory? How is the novel "Briar Rose" an allegory of the sufferings experienced by those imprisoned in concentration and extermination camps during WWII?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 754 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample