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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 Friedrich find when he comes back to his apartment?

2. What is the town like after the air raid?

3. About what do the boys chant?

4. Of what does Friedrich's father warn Friedrich?

5. How does Herr Schneider earn money?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the Jewish death ritual.

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

3. How does the ending of the chapter then bring the readers right back into the horror of "real" life?

4. Why are Friedrich and his father having uncharacteristic arguments, and why is there tension in the apartment when the narrator goes up to take the Schneiders some potatoes?

5. How are these chants a perversion of Jewish historical events?

6. What does Friedrich speak about and what does he ask of the narrator's family? What do you think is the reason for his request?

7. What happens when Friedrich tries to get into the shelter?

8. What is rather ironic in this chapter and why?

9. What demonstrates the fact that the narrator's family has not completely turned its backs on the Schneiders as so many other non-Jewish Germans have?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 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

There are six major characters in this story. Choose one of the following questions in a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text and your research or personal experience:

1. Compare and contrast Friedrich with the narrator.

2. Compare and contrast Herr Schneider with the narrator's father.

3. Compare and contrast Frau Schneider with the narrator's mother.

(see the answer keys)

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