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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. Who gives Friedrich an engraved fountain pen?

2. Who helps the rabbi thread a needle?

3. What happens as Friedrich is eating?

4. What does the attendant do?

5. What does Resch do when the narrator's family pounds on the locked shelter door?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do you think Resch means when he says, "his luck that he died this way"?

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

3. How does Friedrich's family celebrate his Bar Mitzvah?

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

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

6. What is ironic about the prayer that Scholoime is reciting at his death?

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

8. Who visits the Schneiders and what happens?

9. 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?

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

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

In the chapter titled "The Swimming Pool," Friedrich returns to the pool, offering to tell the police about the thief, but is rebuffed. Answer the following questions and write a well-developed, cohesive essay using examples from the text and your research or personal experience:

1. What happens to Friedrich while he is checking out from a day at the pool? What do you think is the reason for the attendant's vitriolic response to learning Friedrich is a Jew?

2. Why do you think Friedrich would be so careless about his claim check given the things that are going on around him and the fact that his id clearly shows he is Jewish?

3. Why do you think Friedrich returns to try to help the boy whose bike is stolen?

4. Would you have returned to try to help the police and boy recover the bike? If it were your bike, would you want useful information even if it were from someone you disliked?

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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