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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. According to Asher, which group of people first painted nudes?

2. In Chapter 13, what does Asher mention having for lunch regularly?

3. What is Jacob Kahn's wife's name?

4. While in Europe, what does Asher receive in the mail from Anna Schaeffer?

5. In the Brooklyn Crucifixions, what structure forms the crucifix?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Asher draw for his enemy classmate? Describe the picture.

2. Describe how Anna Schaeffer looks.

3. What does Rivkeh learn from a professor at her university about Jacob Kahn?

4. Describe the sculpture that Jacob Kahn specifically keeps for himself in Chapter 11, purportedly at his wife's request.

5. Describe the reactions of Aryeh and Rivkeh when Asher announces that he plans to spend the summer in Europe.

6. How does Jacob Kahn respond when Asher asks him if the artist he had just visited was happy?

7. Describe Asher's surroundings while he lives with Jacob Kahn in Provincetown.

8. What does Asher do for the summer while Jacob Kahn campaigns for Kennedy?

9. Describe the Brooklyn Crucifixions.

10. Why does the Rebbe want Asher to study Russian?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Jacob Kahn feels that it is necessary for Asher to learn to paint nudes. What do you think Asher's artistic education would have lost without learning to paint nudes? What value is there in that activity? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

Describe the Rebbe's relationship with his people. How would you react if you had to ask a leader for permission to make important decisions? How do the Levs react to the Rebbe's wishes?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the novel, Asher describes moments of intimacy and estrangement between his parents, such as the intimacy that his parents gain through working in Europe alone together and the estrangement Rivkeh experiences from Aryeh due to Asher's art. Explain some of these moments. Do you think this makes a statement about what a normal marriage is like, or do you think Aryeh and Rivkeh should have treated each other differently? How do you think this affects Asher's development as a person? How does it affect his art?

(see the answer keys)

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