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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 was the name of Chayim Hameln's father?

2. Who was the richest Altona Jew?

3. Gluckel's first husband came from a family of how many children?

4. Where did Gluckel and Chayim go after Hameln?

5. Who turned out to be a Messianic pretender?

Short Essay Questions

1. What were the families in Altona like? When and why did Gluckel's family return to Hamburg?

2. What value did jewels hold in the 17th Century? How did this affect Chayim's business?

3. What is revealed of Gluckel's later life in the Introduction?

4. What happened after Gluckel's wedding in Book II? What was Gluckel's impression of Hameln?

5. What examples did Gluckel give of her father taking in others into his home?

6. Who was Mordecai? What happened to him?

7. What reasons does the Introduction give for Gluckel writing the memoirs?

8. What does the Introduction say about the value of The Memoirs of Gluckel of Hameln as a historical artifact?

9. Who are the eldest of Chayim's siblings described in Book II?

10. Who was Yenta and to whom was she betrothed?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the themes of grief and death in The Memoirs of Gluckel of Hameln. What symbolism and imagery does the author use to support these themes?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the discrimination Jews faced in 17th Century Europe. What was the "Jewish Emancipation" and when did it come?

Essay Topic 3

To whom was Gluckel betrothed as a child? How old was she when the betrothal took place? How old was she when she married?

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