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. Who brings Ida startling news of atrocities being committed against Jews?

2. Chiang Kai-Shek was made the commander of Allied troops in what country, in 1942?

3. What is Ida able to do, as a result of the money she finds in Eppetondo's mattress?

4. What object does the German soldier give to Ida?

5. What happened to Rome during the bombing of Italian cities, as of 1943?

Short Essay Questions

1. What ultimately happens to Ida's parents?

2. Who is Signora DiSegni?

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

4. What important object does Nino lose in 1942?

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

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

7. How does Useppe sometimes affect Nino's mood?

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

9. How do Nino and Ida react to the air raid sirens in Rome, beginning in 1941?

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

Ida often leaves Useppe home alone, either because she has to go to work, or because she is too ashamed to be seen with him. What effect do the long solitary hours have on Useppe? Does he seem bothered by the solitude? Why or why not? How might a child of a different disposition react to his situation? Why? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 2

The author includes a great deal of history with the fiction in the novel. Why does she provide so much background information? How does it affect readers' interpretation and understanding of the novel? Why? Are there details in the novel which would be less clear if this information was not provided? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 3

Clemente and the other survivors who return from the war are forever changed, and unable to tolerate those who can only imagine what they went through. In what ways are they representative of all war survivors? How do they re-acquaint themselves with everyday life, and try to get over the atrocities they witnessed? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 891 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample