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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. In Chapter 9, Jacob Kahn travels to see an art show in which city?
2. In Chapter 11, Asher describes Jacob Kahn's show as which type of "affair"?
3. After word has gotten around about the Brooklyn Crucifixions, where does the Rebbe ask Asher to live?
4. What day is it when Asher and Aryeh have the discussion about blindness and about the technical language of the critics?
5. In Paris, Jacob Kahn worked with which famous artist?
Short Essay Questions
1. What types of paintings does Jacob Kahn emphasize in his trips with Asher to the Metropolitan Museum of Art? Why?
2. Describe the person with whom Asher stays in Florence.
3. In Chapter 13, Asher's understanding of his mythic ancestor changes. What does Asher realize about him?
4. Why does Jacob Kahn say that Asher is becoming a whore?
5. Describe how Anna Schaeffer looks.
6. What is the illness that forces Jacob Kahn into bed for a few days?
7. Why does the Rebbe want Asher to study Russian?
8. Before meeting with Jacob Kahn for the first time, Asher receives an assignment from him to read a story from the New Testament. What is the story? How does Asher feel about reading it?
9. Why does Asher begin carrying messages for the Rebbe?
10. What does Jacob Kahn say about the first painting Asher creates of his enemy classmate?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
"Vocation" is a word that describes one's choice of career as a way to fulfill one's personhood. This novel heavily emphasizes vocation as a way to follow God. Compare and contrast Aryeh's choice to travel for the Rebbe with Asher's choice to become an artist. Do you think they choose appropriate vocations to express who they are on the inside? Explain.
Essay Topic 2
Asher eventually comes to realize that his mythic ancestor betrayed the Jewish community just as he also is betraying the community. Explain this relationship. How does this affect the way Asher feels about his mythic ancestor and about his heritage? Does it make Asher less fearful of his mythic ancestor, or does the mythic ancestor always have a grip of terror on Asher's dream life? Explain.
Essay Topic 3
Throughout the novel, the question arises whether Asher's art is from the Ribbono shel olom, which is a name for God, or from the sitra achra, which is a name for the forces of evil. Asher himself wonders at various times what the source of his art is. Provide some reasons why Asher's art may possibly come from each source, and then explain whether you think Asher's art sides with good or with evil. If you think his art is completely neutral, explain why. Use specific examples from the novel.
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This section contains 827 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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