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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When did Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn win the Nobel Prize in Literature?
(a) 1962.
(b) 1992.
(c) 1981.
(d) 1970.

2. What word from Part II: “In the Ogre’s Cave,” Chapter 6 means causing insidious harm or ruin?
(a) Pernicious.
(b) Ecumenical.
(c) Pedantic.
(d) Anglophile.

3. What museum does Olin visit in Part IV: “In Paradise,” Chapter 16?
(a) The Musée du Louvre.
(b) The National Gallery in Prague.
(c) The Czartoryski Museum.
(d) The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

4. What “confession” does Olin make before the other retreat attendees at the meditation meeting in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 14?
(a) His mother was Jewish.
(b) He divorced his wife because she was Jewish.
(c) His father was an SS officer.
(d) His uncle was Adolf Hitler.

5. What does Olin leave behind in the bricks of the cellar at Birkenau as an offering to his mother in Part IV: “In Paradise” opens in Chapters 15?
(a) A poem.
(b) A piece of amber.
(c) A gold ring.
(d) A pearl bracelet.

6. When was Tadeusz Borowski transported from Auschwitz to the Dautmergen subcamp of Natzweiler-Struthof?
(a) 1945.
(b) 1939.
(c) 1941.
(d) 1944.

7. How did Tadeusz Borowski commit suicide?
(a) He shot himself.
(b) He breathed gas from an oven.
(c) He ran in front of a moving train.
(d) He hanged himself.

8. What personal torment does “Big Erna” describe when she stands before the attendees in the dining area in Part II: “In the Ogre’s Cave,” Chapter 10?
(a) Her children’s illnesses and deaths.
(b) The bombing of her home.
(c) Sexual abuse.
(d) Unjust imprisonment.

9. Who relates the ancient tale of a man in sorrow who is comforted by a rabbi who tells him: “The only whole heart is the broken heart. But it must be wholly broken” in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 11?
(a) Rabbi Glock.
(b) Rabbi Dan.
(c) Hanz Frank.
(d) Viktor Frankl.

10. What word from the novel refers to the religious official of a synagogue who conducts the liturgical portion of a service and sings or chants the prayers?
(a) Shofar.
(b) Cantor.
(c) Kaddish.
(d) Vorarbeiter.

11. Who is the young man that Olin encounters outside of a cottage by the concentration camp and holding a blueprint in Part II: “In the Ogre’s Cave,” Chapter 10?
(a) Dr. Stern.
(b) Mirek.
(c) Stefan.
(d) Rabbi Dan.

12. How many female prisoners were held in each barrack of the women’s quarters, according to the narrator in Part II: “In the Ogre’s Cave,” Chapter 8?
(a) 500.
(b) 700.
(c) 300.
(d) 200.

13. The narrator says in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 12 that “Olin’s brief marriage ended in divorce on grounds of what his wife’s attorney cited as” what?
(a) “Alcoholism and abuse.”
(b) “Homosexual tendencies.”
(c) “Addiction to adultery.”
(d) “Alienation of the affections.”

14. Father Mikal implies in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 13 that the mother-superior warned him that who had brought malicious gossip from their diocese to the retreat?
(a) Sister Christina.
(b) Sister Sarah.
(c) Sister Catherine.
(d) Sister Ann-Marie.

15. Who is described as “Becca’s companion, a violinist with long black hair” in Part II: “In the Ogre’s Cave,” Chapter 7?
(a) Stefan.
(b) Jaroslav.
(c) Rainer.
(d) Malan.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the name of Eva’s friend who is described as a self-taught painter and who survived at Auschwitz for four years?

2. What word used in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 12 means marked by characteristics of an earlier period, or antiquated?

3. Who leads the Christian prayer service that Olin attends with Professor Adina Schreier in the beginning of Part II: “In the Ogre’s Cave,” Chapter 6?

4. What word used in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 11 means to give a false or misleading appearance to, or to conceal the truth?

5. The ship that G. Earwig’s family departed on was supposedly setting out for what destination?

(see the answer keys)

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