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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. When is the indictment read?

2. How does Michael feel he "betrays" Hanna?

3. What color is Frau Schmitz's hair?

4. What does Michael find in the beginning of Chapter 17?

5. In what language does Michael have to read the survivor's book?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Michael's classroom and classmates as they are presented in Chapter 13.

2. Describe Michael's daydreams from Chapter 13.

3. Why does Michael decide to talk to his father in Chapter 12?

4. Describe Michael's feelings about his last years in school and his first years in university, as he relates them in Part 2, Chapter 1.

5. Describe what happened the night the church was bombed, as explained in Chapter 8,

6. How does Michael justify thinking of Hanna as a horse in Chapter 14?

7. How does Michael "betray" Hanna, as he explains in Chapter 15?

8. Describe Hanna's lawyer from Part 2, Chapter 3.

9. Describe the lines of reasoning the defendants (including Hanna) give for not unlocking the church doors, as explained in Chapter 9.

10. Describe the bicycle trip that Michael and Hanna take during Michael's Easter vacation.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the trial, Michael talks about the feelings of numbness that overcome him. In Part 2, Chapter 4, Michael uses an analogy to convey his numbed feeling; a "hand pinching an arm numbed by an injection". Why might the author use this analogy? Why does Michael liken his feelings to those of another person, under anesthesia? How does this allow Michael to be active, but also removed from the novel?

Essay Topic 2

When Michael begins to read aloud to Hanna, it starts out as an intimate activity. Give examples as to how this activity strengthens their relationship. Compare and contrast how Michael feels about reading aloud to Hanna in the early stages of their relationship to the later stages. What has changed?

Essay Topic 3

In the last chapter of the novel Michael talks about freeing himself from the story of he and Hanna. How has Michael's guilt changed from the initial stages of their relationship to after Hanna's death? How might writing their story free Michael from that guilt? Can he ever be free? Why or why not? How does Michael "make peace" with their story?

(see the answer keys)

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