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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. What does Ginzburg think they are doing that is causing the screaming?

2. What is Elgen like compared to Kolyma?

3. What is Julia determined to see?

4. What is done over the next three days?

5. When is Ginzburg freed?

Short Essay Questions

1. What solution do Julia and Ginzburg find to reading in low light?

2. What is Julia determined to do and what does she save for the day?

3. About what do the female prisoners disagree during their discussions on the train ride?

4. What gives the prisoners a moment of happiness and how do they share their goods?

5. What are some of the rules Ginzburg mentions as being cited on a paper hanging on the wall?

6. Who teaches the new prisoners how to fake their lumber quota?

7. What routine do Julia and Ginzburg maintain?

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

9. Why is Ginzburg taken to see Nabob and what happens?

10. What range of sentences are the women whom Ginzburg meets given, and why does Ginzburg consider herself lucky?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

There are a number of interesting questions raised by Journey Into the Whirlwind. Questions that Ginzburg most likely want readers to consider and think through carefully. Discuss the following:

1. What does the term "author agenda" mean?

2. Name one idea/concept you think may have been a part of the Ginzburg' agenda. Analyze that idea throughout the book and discuss Ginzburg' probable agenda concerning that idea.

2. Do you think writers who have an agenda for writing should point it out in a preface? Why or why not?

3. How often do you think memoir is written with a clear agenda in mind by the author?

4. Research the life of Ginzburg and see if/where her life may have influenced her writing.

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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