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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How many times does Father Mikal say the novices have attended Confession from him in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 13?
(a) 0.
(b) 2.
(c) 3.
(d) 1.

2. Whom does the narrator refer to as “Becca’s sarcastic lover” in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 14?
(a) Malan.
(b) Rabbi Dan.
(c) Stefan.
(d) Jaroslav.

3. The narrator says in Part II: “In the Ogre’s Cave,” Chapter 10 that the “last prisoners in the Cracow ghetto, [Olin] has read, were transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in August” of what year?
(a) 1945.
(b) 1944.
(c) 1942.
(d) 1943.

4. What are the lyrics of the children’s lullaby that Sister Catherine translates into English for Olin in Part II: “In the Ogre’s Cave,” Chapter 10?
(a) “Early in the morning, God willing, you shall awaken.”
(b) “Little Miss Muffett sat on a tuffett.”
(c) “London Bridge is falling down.”
(d) “Ring around the rosie, pocket full of posies.”

5. What poet does Olin quote in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 11 when he describes “something not known to anyone at all but wild in our breast for centuries”?
(a) Anna Akhmatova.
(b) Aharon Appelfeld.
(c) Franz Xaver Schwarz.
(d) Primo Levi.

6. What Zen poet is described by Ben Lama in Part IV: “In Paradise,” Chapter 16 as having written of a “glad willingness to exchange the most magnificent metaphor about the sea for the immediacy, the pure reality, or one splash of cold surf full in the face”?
(a) Ryokan.
(b) Master Dogen.
(c) Hanz Frank.
(d) Rilke.

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

8. What word from Part II: “In the Ogre’s Cave,” Chapter 6 means characterized by bitter or scornful derision?
(a) Pedantic.
(b) Ecumenical.
(c) Sardonic.
(d) Pernicious.

9. When is the bus said to be departing for Cracow from the concentration camp in Part IV: “In Paradise,” Chapter 15?
(a) Midday.
(b) Late evening.
(c) Early evening.
(d) Early morning.

10. Where does Malan suggest Olin visit “the old Franciscan cathedral and have a look at its modern stained-glass window” in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 13?
(a) Palestine.
(b) Treblinka.
(c) Romania.
(d) Cracow.

11. What is the name of the ship that G. Earwig has spent his life in search of, according to the narrator in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 12?
(a) The Shofar.
(b) The Wilma.
(c) The Kaddish.
(d) The Struma.

12. Who questions whether Beethoven’s joy in Ode to Joy is indicative of transcendence in Part IV: “In Paradise,” Chapter 16?
(a) Hanz Frank.
(b) Rabbi Dan.
(c) Rainer.
(d) Rabbi Glock.

13. 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) 200.
(b) 300.
(c) 700.
(d) 500.

14. What is the name of the priest that accompanies the two Catholic novices at the retreat?
(a) Father James.
(b) Father Thompson.
(c) Father David.
(d) Father Mikal.

15. What was the name of Clements Olin’s maternal grandmother?
(a) Emilie Adam.
(b) Maria Appelfeld.
(c) Sarah Glock.
(d) Edith Frankl.

Short Answer Questions

1. What Zen master is cited in Part IV: “In Paradise,” Chapter 16 as having written, “All the Universe is one bright pearl. What need is there to understand it?”

2. Who takes Olin’s hand after Sister Ann-Marie wriggles free from the dancing circle in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 11?

3. What name does Olin call out when chasing after Sister Catherine in Part IV: “In Paradise,” Chapter 16?

4. What word used by Dr. Stern in Part IV: “In Paradise,” Chapter 16 means very sheer and light, or almost transparent or translucent?

5. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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