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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. What does the judge tell the Reschs' attorney?

2. Who weeps in joy at the verdict?

3. Why does the Nazi demand that Friedrich and the narrator leave?

4. What does the narrator's father confess?

5. With what does Friedrich greet a man outside the Meyer department store?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does this situation with Frau Penk demonstrate?

2. What does the speaker at the meeting talk about and what is Friedrich's reaction?

3. Describe the first encounter the narrator remembers between him and Friedrich.

4. Why do you think Friedrich says "Heil, Hitler" outside the department store?

5. What is the landlord's reason for telling the Schneiders they have to vacate and does the reason seem fair?

6. What does the narrator say when Herr Schneider asks him about the Jungvolk and how does Herr Schneider respond to the narrator's reply?

7. Describe how the window is broken. Do you think the narrator shows courage in taking responsibility for breaking the window or is lying never acceptable?

8. Who is Dr. Jakob Askenase and what is significant about the boys' visit there in this chapter?

9. What sort of celebration is there on the first day of school?

10. Why do you think the narrator is so distracted?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The chapter "Reasons" is very important in understanding much of what happens later in the book and also in understanding why so many Jewish people did not flee Nazi Germany when they had the chance. Answer the following questions and write a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text and your research or personal experience:

1. What are the reasons Herr Schnider gives for not leaving Germany? Are they valid?

2. Do you think, given the things that have already happened to the Schneiders, that Herr Schneider is being rationale in thinking that because it's the 20th century, things like genocide do not occur anymore?

3. Are modern governments (those in the 20th and 21st centuries) any less prone to wholesale genocide than any other era? Give specific examples and details to support your stance.

4. Is it fair for Herr Schneider to expect his teenage son to be as philosophical about persecution as Herr Schneider?

Essay Topic 2

The chapter titled "Jungvolk" is very significant in that if the young can be influenced and changed, significant social changes can take place in a country almost overnight. Choose one of the following questions and write a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text and your research or personal experience:

1. Once Hitler has the young people "in his pocket," he is well on his way to controlling Germany. Write an essay either agreeing or disagreeing with this statement, giving specific reasons and examples.

2. Not too long ago in the United States, President Obama addressed the youth in the schools in the nation as a whole. Discuss this situation, why some people were opposed to President Obama doing so, and any similarities between the novel, Friedrich, and that situation.

3. Bob Dylan wrote and released a song around 1963 titled, "The Times They Are a-Changin'." How are the lyrics to this song applicable to what is happening in 1930s Germany?

Essay Topic 3

The first section determines the action takes place somewhere in Germany after World War I, when the victorious Allies are taking economic vengeance on the losers. Choose one of the following questions in a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text and your research or personal experience:

1. What is the situation like in Germany post WWI? Give examples of the economic and political conditions.

2. Many say Hitler's rise to power is a direct result of how Germany is treated in the war. Learn more about this and give your opinion.

3. How could the Allied powers have done things differently to help Germany recover in such a way that it does not set up an opening for the type of situation that Hitler creates?

(see the answer keys)

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