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

2. Who is Ninuzzu?

3. What problem did the Italian Expeditionary Corps face, in 1942?

4. What city was liberated in 1943, at the cost of 630,000 lives?

5. In what city did the failed assassination attempt against Hitler take place?

Short Essay Questions

1. What health problem does Ida experience as a child, and how do her parents feel about it?

2. What ultimately happens to Ida's parents?

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

4. Where is Gunther, at the start of the novel, and where is he going?

5. What is the general worldwide trend in the war, according to the history presented in 1943?

6. What does Nino do for his little brother when Useppe is very young?

7. Why does Nino quit school?

8. What happens to Blitz when Nino leaves to serve in a battalion?

9. How does Nino treat his mother when he is 16?

10. What happens between Ida and Gunther?

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

Carlo's character is, at times, mysterious, sinister, pitiable and despicable. Why does his character change so much throughout the course of the novel? What literary purpose does his character serve? What is he supposed to represent? 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.

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