View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is unique about Orlovska's apartment that let Eva know that they had more money than her family?

2. What color were the goldfish at the pond that Eva and her parents often visited in Poland?

3. Who, at home, infused Eva and her sister with Christian teachings?

4. What did Krysia's mother call her because she recoiled from being hugged?

5. Who did Eva go to Christian church with when she was young?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Eva gather memories before the family emigrated to Canada?

2. What was a sanatorium and why did Eva's mother have to go to a sanatorium for a while?

3. For Eva's parents, what extra meaning did her birth have?

4. What was the difference between the books that Eva choose from the library and books she had to read in school in Poland?

5. What was Eva's education like in Poland? Do you think she was getting two different educations? How did the teachers help the students understand what was important?

6. How was life on the ship to Canada like a family?

7. What was an apparatchik in Poland and who, according to Eva, was one? What did they do? What was their function in the political landscape?

8. Why did Eva's parents go to synagogue and practice religion?

9. Compare Krysia's adult life with Eva's. What were the differences? What were the similarities? How did you think they viewed each others lives?

10. What emotion did Eva have when she heard the Polish National Anthem as her ship left for Canada?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the age difference between Eva and her sister affect Eva's sister? How is she more quickly "Americanized?" Why do you think this is? At what ages did the girls emigrate? Why is this important? Support your essay with quotes from the book.

Essay Topic 2

Why is English the language of Eva's adulthood? Why does she stop translating in her head? What happens that makes it possible for Eva to think and dream in English? Why is this an important step in her development?

Essay Topic 3

Name small ways of intimacy that made a difference in Canada. How does Eva feel about these things? What is her reaction to them? Support your discussion by using examples from the book.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,051 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample