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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 did the narrator's father insist was not for children, but the narrator looked at anyway?

2. When the narrator does not want to discuss politics when they are alone in his apartment, what does he ask Helga to ask him about instead?

3. According to the narrator, what was the only thing about Helga that had changed since he last saw her?

4. Who informed the Minuteman of the narrator's whereabouts?

5. From whom did the narrator take the motorcycle?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Arpad Kovacs response when he reads the contents of one of Campbell's radio broadcasts?

2. Why had Father Keeley been "unfrocked"?

3. What is Abraham Epstein's mother hoping to prove when she speaks to the narrator in German?

4. What reason does Andor Gutman give for thinking that the position of "corpse-carrier" would be a good job?

5. What does Robert Wilson, the Black Fuehrer of Harlem, mean when he says that he and the narrator were on "opposite" sides? Provide some explanation as to why Wilson chose the side he did.

6. Why is Helga presumed to be dead?

7. In chapter one, where is the narrator? Why is he there and what is he doing?

8. What happened to members of the Sonderkommando when their job was done? How were they replaced?

9. Of what does the Haifa Institute consider Heinz Schildknecht to be an expert and why?

10. What is the significance of the leather strap that Bernard Mengel mentions?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss friendships in the novel such as the friendships the narrator has with Heinz Schildknecht and George Kraft. Consider the role of deception in these and other relationships in the novel.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Resi's deceptive behavior. Explain what she does and the consequences of her actions, if any. Can Resi's actions be justified? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss nationalism and patriotism as it relates to the novel. Does the novel handle these ideas as generally good, bad, or neutral? How does the narrator feel about these issues? Be sure to use examples to support your argument.

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