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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 do parents traditionally do on the first day of school?

2. What does Friedrich have for his outfit?

3. About what do the children tease Mr. Rosenthal?

4. What has Resch been for a year?

5. Where is the narrator's apartment?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How does the narrator describe the Jewish Sabbath dinner at Friedrich's home? What does this indicate to the reader?

4. 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?

5. What does this situation with Frau Penk demonstrate?

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

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

8. What indications are there that Friedrich and his mother enjoy a good relationship?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The chapter titled "The Pogrom" is probably a very difficult one for many readers, not only because it is the first instance of physical harm done to a character but also because of the narrator's seeming betrayal of his Jewish friends. 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. Research and explain the topic of mob psychology and how this applies to the narrator's participation in the destruction.

2. What is a pogrom? Research the history of pogroms and cite some of the most well-known ones. Have they always been against Jews? Why do you think otherwise sane and good people participate in a pogrom?

3. Could you ever imagine yourself participating in the kind of activities that take place in this chapter? Not necessarily against the Jews, but against some group of people with whom you feel uncomfortable or threatened. Write an essay about this topic.

Essay Topic 2

1. The book Friedrich does not go into the horror of concentration camps or the wholesale murder of millions of Jews (and other unacceptable people), yet there are plenty of tragic events that point the way to the larger event that is the Holocaust. Why do you think the author chose to address the issue of the Holocaust in this way? (Keep in mind of the intended audience). Is the author's approach effective? Does it reveal enough of the tragedy of the events of Nazi Germany to convince a reader of the extent of Germany's genocide of a group of people?

2. Research pre-WWII Germany and write an essay about the reasons that Germany is vulnerable to the extent that it is willing to go down the path of mass murder. Does anything justify the German people's actions?

3. Research the aftermath of Germany's actions in pre-WWII and WWII in its concentration camps. Do you think Germany received just retribution? Why or why not? What do you think should have happened to Germany?

Essay Topic 3

The chapter titled "The Movie" is very significant in understanding how the German people came to be active Jew persecutors or at the very least placidly compliant in the slaughter and persecution of Jews. 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. Research the movie Sweet Jew and do a critical analysis of the content.

2. Research the history of the German film industry from its internationally acclaimed status in the early part of the 20th century to its decline in quality when it began being used by the Nazi party for the dissemination of propaganda. Write an essay chronicling the changes.

3. How are movies still used to support and promote certain political or social agendas? Write an essay discussing this topic.

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