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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What German word for “housewife” does Earwig use in a derogatory manner in Part II: “In the Ogre’s Cave,” Chapter 6?
(a) Kaddish.
(b) Hausfrau.
(c) Shofar.
(d) Kibbutz.

2. 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?”
(a) Master Ryokan.
(b) Master Levi.
(c) Master Appelfeld.
(d) Master Dogen.

3. Where was Pope John Paul II born?
(a) Wadowice, Poland.
(b) Cracow, Poland.
(c) Moscow, Russia.
(d) Berlin, Germany.

4. Erna tells Olin in Part II: “In the Ogre’s Cave,” Chapter 10 that the few Jews that returned to Oswiecim were expelled in what year by Communists?
(a) 1962.
(b) 1959.
(c) 1972.
(d) 1968.

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) Primo Levi.
(d) Franz Xaver Schwarz.

Short Answer Questions

1. 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?

2. What is the name of the Polish sculptor at the retreat who argues with the Jewish attendees in Part II: “In the Ogre’s Cave,” Chapter 7?

3. As Olin attempts to make sense of the transcendent experience of the dancing in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 11, the narrator says, “Out on that platform at odd moments of each day, a presence had risen that, for want of a better term, [Olin] calls” what in his journal?

4. What name refers to the Pentateuch, the first of the three Jewish divisions of the Old Testament?

5. What was Sister Catherine’s name prior to her entrance to novice hood, according to Stefan in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 13?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who follows Olin as he searches for Brzezinka in Part II: “In the Ogre’s Cave,” Chapter 8? Why is Olin looking for this setting?

2. How are the tensions between the retreat attendees described in Part II: “In the Ogre’s Cave,” Chapter 6?

3. What reason does Olin give for his family’s failure to search for his mother when he “bears witness” in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 14?

4. Where does Olin go after Catherine bids him farewell in Part IV: “In Paradise,” Chapter 16?

5. What information does Erna reveal to Olin prior to the meditation meeting in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 14?

6. Why does Olin go into the town of Oswiecim in Part II: “In the Ogre’s Cave,” Chapter 8? What does he take with him?

7. What happens with Sister Ann-Marie during the prayer service in Part II: “In the Ogre’s Cave,” Chapter 8?

8. What does Olin learn about Father Mikal in Cracow in Part IV: “In Paradise,” Chapter 16?

9. What does Olin consider the phenomenon of the dancing to be in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 11?

10. What does Olin encounter when his bus reaches Cracow in Part IV: “In Paradise,” Chapter 16?

(see the answer keys)

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