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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. How does Rifka feel about her brother, Saul?

2. How old is Rifka at the beginning of the book?

3. What does Rifka do for a girl on the train to Warsaw?

4. What items did Rifka carry in her rucksack?

5. What is Rifka's last name?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What is Rifka doing as the novel opens?

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

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

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

7. What is revealed about Rifka and her family, and why they had to leave Russia?

8. What is revealed about why Rifka and her family had to leave Russia?

9. What does Rifka tell Tovah about her role in the family's escape plan?

10. How does Rifka spend her time at the hospital when she goes to see her family?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What important life lessons does Rifka learn from little Ilya? Explain.

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

The quest for America takes on an almost human persona in this story. What is this literary technique called? Cite examples that support this position.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 690 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample