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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. What do Grandfather, Alex, and Jonathan have for dinner after they leave Lista?
(a) They eat peanuts.
(b) They eat sausage.
(c) They eat salad.
(d) They eat nothing.

2. Who is the bridegroom that the men are waiting for in "The Dial, 1941-1804-1941"?
(a) Alex.
(b) Safran.
(c) Sasha.
(d) Kolker.

3. When the old woman saw Safran again years after the town was destroyed, what did they do?
(a) They cried.
(b) They told stories about the people they knew.
(c) They cursed the Nazis.
(d) They had lunch, a bath, and a fight.

4. What did the Nazi's first do when they came to Trachimbrod?
(a) Burn down the synagogue.
(b) Blow everything up.
(c) Shoot people at random.
(d) Give chocolate to the children.

5. Who asks "how are your books arranged" (231)?
(a) Lista.
(b) Alex.
(c) Zosha.
(d) The Gypsy girl.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do Jonathan, Alex, and Grandfather see when they finally reach Trachimbrod?

2. Who says "I am a good person who has lived in a bad time" (227)?

3. Where is Safran going when leaving his apparent lover?

4. Who does Safran go see after he finds the Gypsy girl in his home?

5. Who does Safran think he looks like?

Short Essay Questions

1. After reading "What We Saw When We Saw Trachimbrod, or Falling in Love," the reader might suspect that Lista was a character in her own story. Who might she be? How do you know? Why do this?

2. Is Jonathan a reliable narrator? Defend your response.

3. Why does Alex send back the money that Jonathan sent him? Why is he angry?

4. The old woman tells that she must live near Trachimbrod as "punishment" (189). According to her, what is she being punished for? What does this mean to you?

5. What is odd about Zosha's family home?

6. How does Alex feel about the truth in "Letter Dated 12 December 1997?"

7. In "Letter Dated 12 December 1997," what does Alex think about Jonathan's writing about Safran? Is this hypocritical? What has Alex learned?

8. Alex asks Jonathan to finish writing the chapter "An Overture to Illumination." Why? Does Jonathan do it? How can you tell?

9. What does Jonathan tell Alex about his grandmother while waiting for Grandfather and the old woman? What do Jonathan and his grandmother have in common?

10. With everything that has happened to Jonathan, Alex, and Grandfather, even Grandfather goes through some significant changes. In "An Overture to Illumination," Grandfather makes the waitress apologize to Jonathan. Why? What is different about Grandfather? How and why has he changed?

(see the answer keys)

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