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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. To what does Ginzburg attribute her not signing anything that was false?

2. Who is Comrade Beylin?

3. What is the so-called method when Ginzburg is harshly interrogated by uninterrupted interrogation with different interrogators?

4. How old is Elvov when he visits Ginzburg?

5. What is Ginzburg told in the meeting?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who are Ginzburg's new cell mates?

2. How is Ginzburg's situation changed on Red Army Day?

3. What is mentioned about the Red Tatary and why does Ginzburg threaten one prisoner in French?

4. How do the prisoners communicate in Krasin, and what disturbing piece of news does Ginzburg receive in one such communication?

5. Describe Captain Vevers' behavior to Ginzburg.

6. What is the "Conveyor Belt" interrogation method and how is it used on Ginzburg?

7. When is Ginzburg arrested and where does she tell goodbye?

8. What happens on February 7, 1937, and why is one of Ginzburg's former students in particular agony about it?

9. Who is Eugenia Semyonovna Ginzburg and why is she awakened early in the morning on December 1, 1934?

10. What does Ira ask Tsarevsky to do as she and others are being transferred and what does his willingness to do so portend?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Titles often play a vital role in making a person decide to read a particular book. Discuss the following:

1. Fully explain why you think Journey Into the Whirlwind is titled as such. Do you think it is the best title for the book? Why or why not? Can you think of a better title? Why would you choose it?

2. How important is a title in influencing you to consider reading a book? Explain your answer.

3. Do you think a title needs to have direct relevance to a book's content? Explain your answer.

4. Have you ever read a book that when you finished you do not understand the relevance of the title? Does it discourage you from "trusting" that particular author again?

Essay Topic 2

1. Research and give a brief biographical sketch of Eugenia Ginzburg.

2. What in Ginzburg's background may have helped her in writing Journey Into the Whirlwind? What may have influenced the way she depicts various people and scenes?

3. Do you think all of the events in a memoir are true? Why or why not? Give examples.

4. How is a memoir affected by memory? Is every memory a person has strictly accurate? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Readers learn that Kirov's assassin was a Communist. This fills Ginzburg with a sense of foreboding. It also demonstrates that the government does not have complete control over its citizens, because the assassin is a Communist. It a Communist assassinates another Communist, it further implies that there is no such thing as a loyal Communist any longer. Since a Communist has assassinated another Communist, the government is now weeding through Party members to determine loyalty.

1. Discuss the idea that if a communist kills a communist official that means that there could be other communists who are not loyal to the government. Use examples from Journey Into the Whirlwind and your own life to support your response.

2. Discuss what you think about the way Stalin responded to Kirov's death. Use examples from Journey Into the Whirlwind and your own life to support your response.

3. Discuss why the statement: it further implies that there is no such thing as a loyal Communist any longer, is an example of black and white, absolute type thinking. Use examples from Journey Into the Whirlwind and your own life to support your response.

(see the answer keys)

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