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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why were dead men thrown on trains transporting prisoners to different concentration camps?
(a) They were sent to spread disease to the other prisoners on the train.
(b) If their number was on the list, their life was considered less important than their number.
(c) They were there to take up space, so that the prisoners would not have much room.
(d) This was a cruel joke of the SS who wanted to horrify the other riders.

2. Who does the author claim entertained thoughts of suicide in the concentration camp?
(a) The author notes that nearly all of the prisoners entertained these thoughts.
(b) He notes there was a high suicide rate among the Capos.
(c) The author claims these thoughts were particularly common among men.
(d) The author writes that suicide was most common when it was snowing.

3. What possession does the author of this book try to keep after arriving to the concentration camp?
(a) A gold tooth.
(b) A sturdy pair of boots.
(c) A wedding ring.
(d) A scientific manuscript.

4. What job did Frankl do in freezing temperatures out of doors?
(a) He worked on icky train tracks.
(b) He worked in the sewage pits.
(c) He worked in an open-air hospital.
(d) He worked on the roof of the prison director's building.

5. What are "premium coupons"?
(a) These came from the construction firm that hired workers through the prison, and could be used to buy days off work.
(b) These were certificates from the SS guards, and were awarded to prisoners who arrived to work before the morning bell rang.
(c) These came from the construction firm that hired the workers from the prison, and could be exchanged for cigarettes.
(d) Raffle tickets given to the SS guards to award them things previously owned by the prisoners.

Short Answer Questions

1. How do psychiatrists expect people to react in abnormal situations?

2. What does Frankl argue hurts most about being hit?

3. What characterizes the second phase of a prisoner's mental state?

4. During the time that the author spent in concentration camps, what does he describe as his main work?

5. What does the author claim helped to detach prisoner's minds from their surroundings?

Short Essay Questions

1. In the first section of Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy, Frankl writes of his job working to lay tracks for a railway line. What was this job like? Who paid for it?

2. In the section on "Experiences in a Concentration Camp," Frankl describes a physical condition that affected "nearly all the camp inmates." What was this condition? How did it affect Frankl?

3. How does Frankl describe a "delusion of reprieve"?

4. According to Frankl, what characterizes the prisoners' thinking when they first arrive at camp?

5. How did the SS respond to changing the list of prisoners who would board transport that would transfer prisoners to another camp or would send them to the gas chambers?

6. According to Frankl, what were the communal showers like? What was the attitude of the prisoners as they entered their first communal shower? Why is this important to Frankl?

7. What did Frankl call to "run into the wire"? What role did this play in camp life, and in the mental lives of prisoners in camp?

8. What does Frankl write about the sense of humor that developed in the concentration camp?

9. What were the beatings like in the concentration camp? What does Frankl argue was the worst part of these?

10. Who were termed "Moslems" in camp? What consequences did being called "Moslem" have?

(see the answer keys)

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