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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. Who else does the pastor falsely accuse, on the authority of the government, of stockpiling weapons to kill members of the Hutu?

2. How far do Immaculee and her brothers walk to elementary school?

3. With whom does Vianney leave Pastor Murinzi's house?

4. What is the name of Vianney's high school teacher who arrives at Pastor Murinzi's house?

5. What is the name of Immaculee's father?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Damascene downcast during Immaculee's return home at Easter?

2. What realization does Immaculee have which finally enables her to forgive the killers?

3. What is Augustine's relationship to Immaculee's family?

4. Why does the radio stations tell the Tutsi people to stay inside their homes during the early stages of the genocide?

5. Why is Immaculee Ilibagiza initially denied a scholarship to high school?

6. What is the opinion of Sembeba, the pastor's son, concerning the Tutsi?

7. Choose one word to capture the essence of Immaculee's description of her brother Damascene, and explain why it is a fitting choice.

8. What dominates the feelings of the University students regarding the Interahamwe and their activities in Butare?

9. What exchange do Leonard and Immaculee make, and why is it significant?

10. What is the only promising news that Immaculee and her family hear during the first days of the genocide?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

For Immaculee's survival, as well as the survival of the other seven Tutsi women she shares the bathroom with, no human person can be given more credit than Pastor Murinzi. Yet he is not a perfect person during the genocide. Examine the conflict which tears at the pastor and how he reacts to it, in a thoughtful and insightful analytical essay. What risks does the pastor take on behalf of the women? What risks does he not take? What is significant about the length of the risk he takes? What would have happened to the pastor had he been found out? What would have happened to the pastor had he turned the women away? What is shown about the moral character of the pastor through his actions during the genocide?

Essay Topic 2

While in the bathroom, surrounded by war, violence, and the death of loved ones, as well as a total evaporation of personal freedom, Immaculee finds a means to transcend the horror. Examine the concept of transcendence and the particular way in which Immaculee finds it, in a well-planned analytical essay. What is the nature of violence, war, and all such horrible things? In what sorts of experiences does one encounter these horrible things? Contrariwise, what does it mean to transcend? How does one transcend the horrible? In what sort of experiences does one encounter the transcendent? How does Immaculee find the transcendent? From what does it free her?

Essay Topic 3

After having escaped the hellish bathroom in which she is imprisoned for three months, Immaculee learns to become grateful for even the simplest and most mundane of pleasures. Examine this relativity of the quality of life in a thoughtful and considerate essay. What is meant by the phrase "quality of life"? How does one judge or determine the quality of life? In what things, actions, or possibilities does one's quality of life consist? How does this judgment shift according to circumstances and situations? How does it shift for Immaculee? What does this demonstrate about human nature and human living?

(see the answer keys)

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