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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. With what does the the shop owner threaten Friedrich?

2. What does the narrator watch?

3. How does the narrator explain the bumping noise above?

4. What is the problem with Mr. Schneider?

5. Why can't the housekeeper work for Mrs. Schneider?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is ominous about the image of Herr Schneider coming down the street and the news he brings?

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

3. Describe the proceedings in the court and their implications.

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

5. Describe the conversation between Herr Schneider and the narrator's father about the Nazi party. Do you think the narrator's father is justified in joining the party?

6. Describe the grandfather's visit to the narrator's household.

7. Describe Friedrich's preparations for his first visit to a meeting of the Jungvolk.

8. What does this scene about the broken window portend?

9. How does Friedrich's relationship with his mother contrast to that of the narrator's relationship with his mother?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When Friedrich and the narrator are bathed together, the narrator's mother jokes about Friedrich being Jewish. 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 does it mean to be Jewish? Is it a cultural, racial, or religious designation...or some combination of the three?

2. What contributions have the Jewish people made to humanity over the last 1000 years?

3. Compare and contrast the major beliefs of the Jewish faith with Christianity.

Essay Topic 2

In the chapter, "The Way to School," we see not the first evidence of the growing violence towards Jews, but the most overt one in the book so far. 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. Hitler calls for a one-day boycott of Jewish businesses on Saturday, April 1, 1933; this chapter is probably based upon that proclamation. Learn what you can about this boycott and write an essay telling about how widespread it was, the consequences of it, and if it was considered successful.

2. Friedrich and the narrator are only about eight years old and do not understand the hatred and fears of adults. They greet Mr. Rosenthal, a shop owner whose shop is being blocked by a man with a swastika armband. What can we learn from children about accepting differences? What if very young children of the Arab and Western and Israeli worlds got together (before they are too strongly influenced by adults)? What do you think would happen? Would they share their toys? Would they be hateful because someone is of a different race or religion, etc.? Write a speculative essay about what children can teach adults about accepting others.

3. How effective in general are boycotts? Research the history of boycotts and choose several to study and compare and contrast.

Essay Topic 3

In the chapter "School Days," it is traditional in Germany for families to celebrate the first day of school. Later in the chapter, "The Teacher," we learn that Friedrich has been barred from attending school. Answer the following questions in a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text and your research or personal experience:

1. How important do you think education is to the German people at that time if they actually celebrated the first day of school? Do you think education still is important in Germany?

2. How do you think Friedrich felt when told he could no longer go to the public school? Is there any indication of his reaction? How would you feel under the same circumstances?

3. Research a little on the Jewish culture's attitude towards education. Would their ideas about learning cause the school children to feel better or worse about being excluded from the schools in pre-WWII Germany?

(see the answer keys)

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