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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 is Rifka's hometown?

2. How does Rifka know Tovah?

3. Who are Rifka's brothers?

4. What does Rifka note is missing when her rucksack is returned to her?

5. What do the Russian guards use to search the train?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when Mama, Papa and Nathan come down with typhus, and where do Rifka and Saul go?

2. How is life in Russia better for Tovah than it was for Rifka?

3. What kind deed does Rifka do for a girl on the train to Warsaw which will have negative repercussions for her?

4. How does Rifka try to repay Saul for the food he earns for them?

5. What is missing from Rifka's rucksack when it is returned to her and how does she feel about the loss?

6. Why is Rifka acting as a distraction on the train?

7. Where is Rifka sent for her ringworm treatment and what organization is shepherding her through the process?

8. What disease is Rifka diagnosed with in Poland and what is her prognosis?

9. What is Saul's advice for preventing the innkeeper's daughter from eating her food in the future?

10. What humiliating things are forced upon Rifka and her family by the guards and a doctor at the Polish border?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author used more than one iteration on the theme of loss. Identify at least two examples about loss in the book and then explain why the examples support the theme.

Essay Topic 2

What is the point of view of the story? What are the benefits and the limitations to this particular point of view?

Essay Topic 3

Explain how Rifka's book of Pushkin poetry serves as a powerful metaphor in the story. Be sure to include the perspective on the book both before and after Rifka's arrival in America.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 713 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample