View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What object does Nino lose in 1942?

2. How does Useppe try to help Filomena's father?

3. What is Useppe's greatest pleasure, as a baby?

4. What conference was held for the purposes of "racial planning"?

5. What does Ida do, regarding her deceased mother's Jewish heritage, in Chapter 3?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Ida Mancuso described, at the beginning of Chapter 2?

2. How does Ida respond to the air raid sirens, beginning in 1943?

3. What was the Italian Racial Law?

4. What is happening to the Jews in the ghetto, in 1941?

5. What important object does Nino lose in 1942?

6. What new ordinance is passed, in 1943, regarding the Jews, and how does it affect Ida?

7. How does the author set the stage for the novel's action, in the first chapter?

8. Who is Carulina?

9. How does Italy's government change in 1943?

10. What does Carlo tell Nino about his past, when they first meet?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

All of the historical information presented in the novel is accurate, but it is presented in a way that allows the author to back up her own points. Does the author's presentation of the historical facts change the way the reader interprets those facts? Is the author's use of historical facts to flesh out the story effective? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 2

Ida's parents are discussed at the beginning of the novel, as well as her girlhood. Which of Ida's traits did she inherit from her parents? Which were genetic, and which were learned behaviors? Is there any way of knowing for sure? Are there any events during Ida's childhood which affect the rest of her life? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 3

There are strange and surreal events in the novel, such as Caruli's story about the dirigible, which don't make sense, and which make the reader question the validity of the rest of the events. Why does the author make the truth of these events so ambiguous? What literary purpose do they serve? Are they effective? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 813 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample