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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 was Josef Mengele’s nickname?
(a) The Murder Machine.
(b) The Mad Doctor.
(c) The Angel of Death.
(d) The President of Evil.

2. 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?
(a) Sister Ann-Marie.
(b) Sister Angela.
(c) Sister Catherine.
(d) Sister Maria.

3. What word from Part IV: “In Paradise,” Chapter 16 means extremely or impassively steep?
(a) Ecumenical.
(b) Precipitous.
(c) Disingenuous.
(d) Pedantic.

4. 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) “Alienation of the affections.”
(d) “Addiction to adultery.”

5. 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.

Short Answer Questions

1. The excommunicated monk Stefan’s priory is in the region of what notorious death camp north of Warsaw, according to the narrator in Part II: “In the Ogre’s Cave,” Chapter 7?

2. Whom does the narrator refer to as “Becca’s sarcastic lover” in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 14?

3. Who first approaches Clements Olin in the mess hall to ask if he’s okay in the beginning of Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 11?

4. When was Josef Mengele born?

5. 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”?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the theme of the human capacity for evil explored in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 11?

2. What information does Olin learn from Stefan in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 13?

3. How does the narrator describe the mood of the attendees in the beginning of Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 11?

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

5. 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?

6. How does G. Earwig describe the loss of his family in Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 12?

7. Who steps forward to “bear witness” at the meditation meeting in Part II: “In the Ogre’s Cave,” Chapter 10? What does this character reveal?

8. What does Father Mikal discuss with Olin in the beginning of Part III: “Dancing at Auschwitz,” Chapter 13?

9. What information does Father Mikal reveal about Stefan in Part IV: “In Paradise,” Chapter 16?

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

(see the answer keys)

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