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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 happens to the Gypsy girl after Safran gets married?
(a) She commits suicide.
(b) She continues to have an affair with Safran.
(c) She is captured by the Nazis.
(d) She leaves town.

2. What does Safran get paid to do by the Sloucher congregation?
(a) Read to the illiterate.
(b) Remodel the Double House.
(c) Go to the movies.
(d) Visit widows.

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

4. What do Alex and Jonathan do together while waiting for Grandfather and the old woman to finish talking?
(a) They skin the corn and talk.
(b) They decide to write a novel together.
(c) They read.
(d) They peel potatoes.

5. What is in all of the boxes in the old woman's house?
(a) Documents that need to be filed.
(b) The woman's favorite photographs.
(c) Old newspapers about the war.
(d) The only items remaining of Trachimbrod.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Letter Dated 26 January 1998," what did Alex tell Jonathan he did for the first time ever?

2. When Safran meets the Gypsy, what is the subject of the play they are watching?

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

4. In "An Overture to Illumination," Jonathan, Alex, and Grandfather are returning from Trachimbrod. Why does Grandfather get mad at their waitress?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

3. 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?

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

5. 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?

6. How does Safran's teeth effect his life? What might have been different if he had not been born with teeth?

7. Alex has changed throughout the novel. Identify how he has changed by the time he writes "Letter Dated 24 December 1997." What do you think brought about the change?

8. Why do women fall in love with Safran?

9. In "Falling in Love," what does "Augustine" look like?

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

(see the answer keys)

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