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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Thérèse do with the package?

2. What word do both women call out simultaneously as Léonie leaves the room?

3. Who betrays Henri and Rose to the Nazis?

4. Why do the girls have to stay out of the woods?

5. About what does Thérèse become upset?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The keeping of secrets is a recurring theme in this novel. Both Thérèse and Léonie withhold secrets from each other as girls; the adults withhold secrets from the children; the house holds secrets from the past, and Antoinette holds some secrets from both the adults and the children. Choose one of the following questions and write a well-developed essay using examples from the book as well as personal experience:

1. Discuss the secrets Thérèse and Léonie hold from each other and why you think they do this. Give specific details and examples from the book.

2. Discuss the secrets the adults withhold from the children. Why do they do this? Is it wise to do so? Do adults in general tend to keep too much from children? Why or why not.

3. Discuss Antoinette's secrets and what you think they are and why you think she keeps them secrets. Is that healthy? She is the only one to get ill and die in the novel--could there be a correlation between her secrets eating away inside her and her getting cancer?

Essay Topic 2

Starting with the second chapter and as a thread throughout much of the novel is the idea of materialism and obsession with possessions, especially on the part of Léonie. Choose one of the following questions and write a well-developed essay using examples from the book as well as personal experience:

1. Follow the theme of materialism throughout the story, giving specific examples of how and why this theme occurs.

2. Write an essay on the following idea: Is wealth/materialism in direct conflict with a spiritual life? Use examples from the book and from your personal life to illustrate your stance.

3. People from the United States are often accused of being materialistic and that this has greatly contributed to environmental problems. Write an essay either agreeing or disagreeing and support with examples and details.

Essay Topic 3

Though this novel contains a complex interrelationship of themes, characters, and imagery, each character, even those not born at the time, is affected by the occupation of the Nazis and their execution of the Jewish family which Henri and Rose shelters. Choose one of the following questions and write a well-developed essay using examples from the book as well as personal experience:

1. Trace how Antoinette has been affected by the Nazi occupation of the Martin house and the village. Give examples and discuss what you think actually happened to Antoinette down in the cellar and how that informs the rest of Antoinette's life.

2. After doing some research, discuss how the country of France in general reacts to the Nazi persecution of Jews of French citizenship. Give examples and relate your research to what happens in this novel.

3. Discuss why you think Léonie chooses to reveal what she knows about the events during the Nazi occupation. Is there any reason for going back to the past and trying to place blame? Should anything happen to the informant this long after the actual event? What do you think should be done?

(see the answer keys)

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