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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 inability to distinguish one day from the next in the following year?

2. What happens when Ginzburg and Karepova are put in a cell together?

3. What does Ginzburg's visitor tell her?

4. Why does Ginzburg consider herself lucky as far as her sentence?

5. About what does Julia become optimistic?

Short Essay Questions

1. What small joy do Ginzburg and the other prisoners enjoy when the Black Maria is late?

2. What happens when Ginzburg is having a conversation with Zinaida Tulub?

3. What happens when Julia and Ginzburg see a flower in the courtyard?

4. How does Ginzburg compare Kostik to Keyzin?

5. What new rule is forced upon the prisoners and how do they react to the restriction?

6. What routine do Julia and Ginzburg maintain?

7. What happens when the prisoners are held in a transfer camp?

8. How do Ginzburg and her mother write letters to each other in code and what is an example of one such letter?

9. What is it like for Ginzburg in her cell at the prison?

10. Who is Marya Dogadkina and how is she described?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many memoirs, and perhaps a majority, of memoirs ends on a happy note. Discuss the following:

1. Why do you think many (most?) people want what they perceive as a happy or good ending to a memoir? Explain your opinion. Do you? Why or why not?

2. What are three reasons to read memoir? Discuss each one in light of Journey Into the Whirlwind and whether or not it fulfills all three, two or one of the reasons you mention. Give examples as to why Journey Into the Whirlwind is or is not successful in fulfilling the reasons you discuss.

3. Do you think reading solely for entertainment is as good a reason to read as any other? Why or why not? Can any work of fiction or non-fiction, no matter how poorly written, enlighten, teach, stimulate thought? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Grandmother warns Ginzburg that a trap is being set for her, and that she should go as far away as she possibly can. But Ginzburg wants to prove her innocence, and her husband dismisses the idea of leaving. Ginzburg recounts that some intelligent people did indeed escape Communist oppression by slipping away to distant places. But Ginzburg admits she was not one of them.

1. Why do you think Ginzburg felt so strongly about proving her innocence? Use examples from Journey Into the Whirlwind and your own life to support your response.

2. Discuss how you think someone like Ginzburg might feel about her decision to not leave by the end of her ordeal. Do you think she may have regretted not leaving? Why or why not? Use examples from Journey Into the Whirlwind and your own life to support your response.

3. Discuss what it might imply about a person to know that a trap by an oppressive government might be set for her and still not take steps to avoid the trap. Use examples from Journey Into the Whirlwind and your own life to support your response.

(see the answer keys)

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