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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 rabbi insist upon doing?

2. With whom does Friedrich nearly collide?

3. For what has the narrator been reprimanded?

4. What do the narrator's family members hear while they are in bed?

5. Why does the narrator run upstairs to Friedrich's apartment?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when a Storm Trooper takes over the physical education of the German school boys during his spare time?

2. How is Friedrich initiated into manhood in his synagogue?

3. What about this chapter shows a different side of Friedrich's life?

4. What is ironic about the way Resch treats his garden polycarp in contrast to how he treats Friedrich?

5. What happens when the narrator returns home and how does his response present a different side of the narrator?

6. What does Friedrich's appearance suggest?

7. What does the narrator do with the mob and why do you think he is capable of those acts when his best friend is Jewish?

8. Tell the story of Solomon.

9. What is foreshadowed in the first part of this chapter?

10. Who visits the Schneiders and what happens?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the chapter, "Conversations on the Stairs," we see the first example of the courage of the narrator's father, though he is, like most humans a mixture of seemingly conflicting emotions and behaviors. 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. Take one major character and show how the character is a mixture of both admirable and less-than-admirable traits. Why do you think this is so? Is anyone ever always one way or another?

2. Most of us have had the experience of doing something that was "not like us." We are fearful when we are usually brave, or vice versa. Mean when usually kind; pessimistic when usually optimistic, etc....Relate one or two incidents in your life when you did something that was not like you. Explain why you did it; whether you regret your choices, and if you would make the same choice again.

3. Choose several well-known politicians, celebrities or other persons who have done things that seemed out of character for that person, or did something completely opposite of what s/he indicated s/he intended. State the situations and analyze each situation, answering the same questions in number 2 above.

Essay Topic 2

In the chapter titled "The Festival," the rabbi reminds Friedrich, who is 13, that he alone is now responsible before God for his actions. Answer the following questions and write a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text and your research or personal experience:

1. What is a Bar Mitzvah?

2. Why do you think the Jews celebrate this ceremony? Is it still celebrated today?

3. Do you think a boy of 13 is ready to be solely responsible for his own actions and decisions? Why or why not?

4. The narrator is astonished by Friedrich's wisdom. Do you think this wisdom is gained partially through the fire of persecution?

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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