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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. Which nationality is not named in Yanek's portrait of the prisoners who begin singing Jewish songs in many different languages?

2. Upon arriving at the Trzebinia concentration camp, Yanek vows that he will not be killed without first taking what action?

3. The "Sachsenhausen salute" involves torturing a prisoner by forcing him to remain in what type of position for hours at a time without moving?

4. At the end of Chapter 18, Yanek has a dream that which person is chasing him?

5. What substance is found to have been placed within the wounds of the man claiming to have the last name of Finkelstein?

Short Essay Questions

1. Whose advice must Yanek ignore in order to make friends with Fred?

2. What is different about Yanek's experience at Bergen-Belsen, in relation to his previous experiences with concentration camps?

3. What small moment of triumph does Yanek experience during the transition from Auschwitz to another concentration camp?

4. What happens to the men and boys accused of plotting escape from the Trzebinia and what proof does Yanek have of their innocence?

5. What scent does Yanek detect in the air when he is brought to the Birkenau death camp?

6. What is the significance of the novel's title?

7. Discuss an instance when Gratz uses a literary device to indicate the preciousness of food.

8. What happens to the prisoner who is recognized by the others at the salt mine as a former member of the Judenrat?

9. At what point do Yanek and the other new arrivals to the Birkenau death camp realize that they have been spared for the moment?

10. To what location is Yanek sent after he is removed from the Plaszow concentration camp?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How is the topic of propaganda treated within Prisoner B-3087 and how does its treatment relate to the novel's depicted messages?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Gratz’s use of Aristotle's appeals within the text of Prisoner B-3087. How does Gratz use each of the three appeals to persuade the reader of messages central to the tenets of the work?

Essay Topic 3

Could Prisoner B-3087 be classified as a coming-of-age story? Why or why not?

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